SOUTH AND CENTRAL 
AMERICAN TRADE CON- 
DITIONS OF TODAY 



NEW AND REVISED EDITION 
WITH COMPLETE INFORMATION TO 1919 

BY 

A. HYATT VERRILL 

Author of " Porto Rico Past and Present," "Cuba Past and Present,' 
"An American Crusoe," etc. 



WITH MAPS 




NEW YORK 

DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 

1919 



fill 



Copyright, 1914 
Br DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 

Copyright, 1919 
Br DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY, Inc. 



MAk 12 1919 

©CLA5125S6 



CONTENTS 



INTRODUCTION 

PART I 
WHEREIN WE FAIL 

CHAPTEB PAGE 

I How we Stand 3 

Our opportunity. Wherein Europeans excel. 
The real effect of the European war. Anti-Ameri- 
can feeling in Spanish America. Popular ideas 
and errors. Our attitude. 

II Ignorance of Conditions 21 

Studying conditions. Personal investigations. 
Lack of adaptability. Making the best of things. 
Conservatism. Languages and customs. Incom- 
petent salesmen. 

III Slipshod Methods 31 

Commission merchants and their ways. Care- 
less packing. What packages must stand. In- 
voices and other papers. Shipping. 

IV Credits and Consuls 45 

Credits and "paper business" Banks. The ques- 
tion of Trade Marks. Our consuls and their short- 
comings. 



CONTENTS 

PART II 

HOW WE MAT SUCCEED 

tlHAPTEB PAGE 

V Winning Confidence 59 

Establishing a reputation. Attention to details. 
Proper packing. Promptness. Selecting repre- 
sentatives. Opportunities for young men. 

VI Giving the People What They Want . . 84 

Filling orders. Samples. Necessity of credit. 
Risks to be met. Keeping promises. Mutual con- 
fidence. 

VII Organisation 97 

Looking over the ground. Countries with pos- 
sibilities. Lack of variety. New opportunities. 
Setting a standard. How others have succeeded. 
Some concrete examples. 

PART III 

FACTS AND FIGURES 

VIII The Republics and Their Trade . . . 113 

The republics alphabetically arranged with in- 
teresting statistics. What they buy and sell. 
Commerce by nations. Comparative sizes. Cur- 
rency, weights, measures, postage, etc. Steam- 
ships and railways. 



MAPS 

FACING 
PAGE 

South America, Southern Part 118 

South America, Northern Part 120 

Central America 158 

Mexico 176 



INTRODUCTION 

This little book is intended as a handbook for all 
those interested in the question of South Ameri- 
can, or more properly Latin- American, trade. It 
is not a book of travel, of history, of political or 
economic conditions, nor of descriptions of places 
and people ; but a volume dealing with hard, cold 
facts, all of which are intimately connected with 
business and trade conditions in the republics to 
the South. 

The author has travelled extensively through 
South and Central America and the West Indies 
and is familiar with the customs, manners, life, 
and languages of the people of whom he writes. 
Moreover, he is heartily in sympathy with them, 
and believes that only one who is in sympathy 
with a people or race can properly appreciate their 
character and point of view. The majority of 
books dealing with Spanish America, either from 
a business or a traveller's standpoint, have been 
written by Americans who judged, weighed and 
saw everything from a northerner's point of 

vii 



viii INTRODUCTION 

view, and as result such books are usually biased, 
prejudiced and unfair. The late Thomas Jan- 
vier was a notable exception, and the popularity 
of his works proves that a book may deal truth- 
fully with our Spanish-American neighbors and 
yet be readable and acceptable to the public. 

For a long time our merchants, manufacturers, 
and business men have talked Spanish-American 
trade, but it took the European War really to at- 
tract nation-wide attention to its possibilities. 
With a large portion of our European trade cut 
off, the question of Spanish America as a mar- 
ket has come more prominently to the fore than 
ever, and a wonderful interest has been aroused 
in regard to the great countries beyond our south- 
ern boundaries and the opportunities they offer 
for American business ventures. 

It is to fill the demand for information regard- 
ing these countries that the present work has been 
prepared. 

In it will be found a vast amount of informa- 
tion regarding Spanish America and Spanish 
Americans, their customs, manners and point of 
view as related to business, as well as a great deal 
of data concerning the exports, imports, debts, p 



INTRODUCTION ix 

wealth, foreign capital, improvements, population, 
transportation, and business of the various conn- 
tries. 

To describe in detail the conditions and other 
facts of each separate Latin-American republic 
would require a large volume, or rather a series 
of volumes, for an entire book could easily be de- 
voted to the business conditions in each republic. 
In the present volume no attempt has been made 
to accomplish this, but the subject has been taken 
up as a whole. As a matter of fact, conditions, 
customs and business methods vary greatly in the 
various countries combined under the common 
term of Spanish America, but the same generali- 
ties prevail, with but few exceptions. 

As an example, take the question of credit. 
This has always been a stumbling block to our 
manufacturers and merchants, but the trouble has 
been mainly through a misunderstanding of con- 
ditions. The author has laid particular stress 
upon this phase of Latin- American business as it 
is of vital importance, and he has endeavored to 
explain in detail just why the peculiar credit sys- 
tem of Spanish America is in vogue and is a nec- 
essary part of the Latin-American business. 



x INTRODUCTION 

It must not for a moment be supposed that the 
statements contained in this volume and relating : 
to credit, or other business conditions, apply with 
equal truth to the whole of Latin America. 

In the larger, more advanced, countries and the 
great modern business centres of South America, 
as for example Eio de Janeiro, Valparaiso, \ 
Buenos Aires, etc., financial methods and banking 
systems are practically the same as in New York, 
Paris or London. In such localities credits are | 
secured by the various banks through accept- i! 
ances, and business may be carried on as readily | 
and as systematically as in any great centre. : 
Heretofore, even in the large cities, Americans 
have been handicapped by having no representa- 
tion among the Latin- American banks, but this 
condition bids fair to improve rapidly as Ameri 
can bankers awake to the opening for branches in f 
Latin America, and already the National City 
Bank of New York has sent men forth to establish \ 
branches in the Argentine and Brazil. At pres- 
ent, however, good reports on credit of Spanish- I 
American firms may be readily obtained through f 
the correspondents of Latin- American banks or 
through Dun's or Bradstreet's. 



INTRODUCTION xi 

It must be remembered, however, that a very 
large portion of the trade which should fall to the 
lot of Americans and which will be the most re- 
munerative in the end, will be in the smaller, less 
developed and more backward republics, where 
modern business and banking conditions do not 
prevail, and it is to these that the present work 
largely refers. 

The author believes that this book will fill a 
long-felt want for a compact, concise and yet com- 
plete source of information for all interested in 
business and trade conditions between the United 
States and her sister republics. 

Doubtless the work will meet with criticism 
from various citizens of the United States with 
strong anti-Spanish- American views, for unpleas- 
ant facts regarding our own faults and shortcom- 
ings have been looked squarely in the face. The 
object of the work is not, however, to boom South 
America or to flatter our own people, but to dis- 
seminate facts and information of value and in- 
terest to the American public, and if this is accom- 
plished the mission of the book will be fulfilled. 

Although the bulk of the material in the follow- 
ing pages has been gleaned from personal experi- 



xii INTRODUCTION 

ence and observation, yet the data and statistics 
have been largely obtained from others. In every 
case, however, the material has been secnred from 
authoritative sources such as the various govern- 
ments, the Latin- American consuls, the Pan-Amer- 
ican Union and the leading Spanish-American 
mercantile houses. 

In the preparation of the work the author has 
been greatly aided by numerous individuals, par- 
ticularly the ever-courteous and obliging repre- 
sentatives of Latin America in this country, and 
he wishes to express his thanks and appreciation 
to the consuls general of the various republics as 
well as to the Pan-American Union, Mr. Franklin 
Adams and many others who have furnished data 
and information of the greatest value to the work. 



PAET I 
WHEREIN WE FAIL 



i 



1 



CHAPTER I 

HOW WE STAND 

For years we have been clamouring for Latin- 
American trade. The press has devoted columns 
to the matter, Pan-American societies, bureaus 1 
and conventions have been established ; pamphlets 
and periodicals devoted to the opportunities of 
Latin America have been published by the score 
and well-informed persons, as well as those who 
knew nothing of the subject, have given their 
views as to how and why we should increase our 
trade with the peoples to the south. 

The wonderful Panama Canal was to link us 
closer with South America; the splendid Pan- 
xlmerican Union in Washington was to establish 
better relations with Latin America, and many a 
poorly paid but well-meaning and conscientious 
United States consul has wasted energy and la- 
bour in compiling voluminous reports and lengthy 
tables to aid our manufacturers in finding a mar- 
ket for their products in our sister republics ; and 
with what result? 



4 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

Surely and steadily the commerce of Spanish, j, 
America has increased, vast new areas have been jj 
opened to settlement and cultivation, railways. j 
have been built, stable governments established, 
financial conditions have improved, and just as 
steadily and surely European manufacturers and 
European countries have reaped the profits and 
secured the trade which might have been ours. 

Our merchants, manufacturers and producers 
have exhibited a strange lethargy and apathy in 1 
respect to Latin- American trade. There have ! 1 
been reasons for this ; our goods have found a j 
market in Europe which could be supplied quicker, ' j 
simpler and far more easily than that of South I 
America ; the bulk of the trade of the world, and I 
more particularly that of South America and the j 
West Indies, has been carried in foreign ships i; 
and European commercial agents have been J j 
firmly established in nearly every Latin- American ' 
country. 1 

And now, the war which has devastated Europe 4 
and crippled her commerce has closed many of i 
her markets to our goods, foreign-owned ships are 3 
coming under our flag and hundreds of German, j 
English and other commercial agents have aban- 4 






HOW WE STAND 5 

doned their offices to rally to the call to arms 
of their fatherlands. Our opportunity has ar- 
rived, a vast field has been opened to our trade, 
Latin America is crying for our goods ; truly it is 
"An ill wind that blows nobody good." 

But has the opportunity found us prepared! 
Are our factories and merchants rushing Ameri- 
can-made goods to the great countries of the 
South? Are ships being chartered to transport 
the necessities for which Spanish America is clam- 
ouring? Has a small army of skilled and compe- 
tent salesmen invaded Latin America? Have new 
branch offices been established in every great me- 
tropolis of the southern republics! 

Scores of steamers and sailing vessels swing 
idly at their moorings, waiting for cargoes that 
do not come. Factories and mills are running on 
half time or have closed entirely, and merchants, 
bankers and business men shake their heads and 
cry economy, hard times and lack of business, 
merely because the European powers flew at one 
another's throats and a portion of our trade with 
Europe was cut off. 

Eight at our doors is a vast territory — countries 
immeasurably larger than Germany or France — 



6 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

a teeming population and immense modern cities, 
all anxious and willing to buy the products which 
we have to sell. 

Europe and its tremendous trade may be cut 
off, but the same regrettable conflict which pre- 
vented us from shipping to Europe and shut out 
European trade with us also almost destroyed the 
trade of Europe with Latin America. 

But it is of no use to secure this trade or at- 
tempt to secure it temporarily. It may be an 
"orphaned trade" just now, but as soon as the 
European powers have recovered from the effects 
of the war they will exert every possible en- 
deavour to regain what they have lost in Latin 
America. Even during their conflict they did not 
forget the importance of their trade with Spanish 
America. As long as England maintains the 
supremacy of the high seas she will be able to 
carry cargoes to and from South America in her 
own ships, even if the cargoes are only a tithe of 
what they were before the war. In fact, the trade 
with Spanish America is even more important to 
European nations now than before the war and 
now that war is over and the period of conva- 
lescence has arrived the control of Latin- American < ' 



HOW WE STAND 7 

trade will be a tremendous factor in the rapid re- 
covery of crippled resources and injured finances. 
Just at present we have the advantage of being 
in a favorable economic position and by making 
the most of these temporary advantages we can 
make them permanent. 

But there was one tremendous drawback in con- 
nection with this great opportunity presented to 
us, and that was the matter of ships. For years 
we were compelled to carry our commerce in for- 
eign vessels and whether we wished to travel or 
wished to ship cargoes to Latin America we were 
obliged to pay foreign shipowners for the privi- 
lege. This condition will no longer exist. With 
the completion of the plans for a great merchant 
marine, we shall have no lack of ships. G-ermany 
must rebuild her marine, and for many years will 
lack ocean carriers. Great Britain must reorgan- 
ize her commercial activities, and will share with 
us on, equal, or even more favorable terms the 
carrying trade of the world. In so far as this con- 
dition will result we have benefited from the war, 
but whether American merchants and manufac- 
turers will grasp these great opportunities for 



8 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

obtaining a leading position in Latin- American 
trade depends entirely upon themselves. 

Do we "rant this trade? Has our talk of the 
past been pure "bunkum," as our English cousins 
say, or is our apathy and failure to take advantage 
of the opening due to unpreparedness, ignorance 
and lack of knowledge of the requirements and 
conditions under which Spanish-American trade 
must be established and carried on? 

Undoubtedly we want the trade; we want an 
outlet for our goods, we want Spanish- American 
money, we want to keep our factories running, our 
mills working, our workingmen and women em- 
ployed in this, one of the most prosperous and 
promising years our great country has ever known. 

Let us look into the matter in detail, however, 
and we will find a lamentable lack of information, 
a marvellous ignorance and almost unbelievable 
false impressions of the Latin- American countries 
and their people among even educated and other- 
wise well-informed American business men. 

How many of us can name the capitals of South 
and Central America, how many can tell the larg- 
est seaports, or can even state definitely if certain 
countries have a seaport? Ask a dozen of your 



HOW WE STAND 9 

business friends for a list of the imports and ex- 
ports of any Spanish- American country ; question 
them as to the miles of railway in operation ; en- 
quire the means of transportation from the sea- 
coast to interior towns ; try to ascertain even the 
size, population or location of the countries and 
eight times out of ten you will find they can tell 
you nothing until they have studied a geography 
or an atlas or have referred to some other au- 
thority. 

Ask a French or even an English manufacturer 
or exporter the same questions. He will tell you 
offhand what each country buys and sells, the 
mileage of their railways, the best routes and the 
means of transportation, the area, the population 
of the countries, the size and location of the prin- 
cipal towns, the time required for shipments to 
reach their destination and nine times out of ten 
he will furnish you with minute details that you 
could never find in any book. 

He will be able to quote figures of exchange, the 
names of bankers and merchants, the cost of labor, 
the debt and wealth per capita, the character of 
the country, the freight rates, the duties, the in- 
dustries and resources of the country, and within 



10 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

easy reach of his desk he will have on file the latest 
consular reports, the most recent government bul- 
letins and a mass of tabulated data regarding the 
countries so far distant from his markets and so 
near to ours. 

But it is not alone this knowledge of conditions 
which has established the European trade in South 
America. It is the organisation of the European 
export business ; the adaptability of the European 
when abroad, the selection of competent and ex- 
perienced salesmen and representatives, the atten- 
tion to small details, the standardisation of goods 
and trademarks, the painstaking care in packing 
and shipping, the willingness to give the public 
what they want and, last and by no means least, 
the question of credit. 

These are the reasons which have brought about 
a condition, by reason of which Europe controlled 
86 per cent, of the nine hundred million dollars 
worth of imports to South America, why France 
furnished five times as many automobiles, Ger- 
many twenty times as many iron beams and struc- 
tural materials, and England twice as much ma- 
chinery as the United States, and why we could, 
before the war, point only to 14 per cent, of export 



HOW WE STAND 11 

trade to Latin America as our share of the tremen- 
dous business carried on with our sister republics. 

There is nothing exported from Europe to Span- 
ish America that we cannot furnish, nothing which 
we cannot make as well or even better, and no 
earthly reason why we should not seize this op- 
portune time to reclaim the prestige we have lost ; 
obtain the South American trade and hold it for 
all time. 

Certain firms have done this ; for example, the 
Singer Sewing Machine Company, several Amer- 
ican typewriter companies, the Winchester Arms 
Company, the American Cereal Company and va- 
rious other firms both large and small. Their 
agencies are to be seen in every Spanish- American 
town of importance and their goods may be found 
in the remotest interior towns. What one can do 
another can accomplish and there is room for all. 

And don't for a moment think the Spanish 
Americans do not want American goods. They 
have always wanted them, and what is more they 
have had them, even though in many cases our 
goods reached South America by the roundabout 
route through Europe and European export 
houses. 



12 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

We hear a great deal about anti- American feel- 
ing in Spanish America. Beturning travellers 
and others tell lurid tales of the insults, ill-treat- 
ment and dangers to which Americans are sub- 
jected in the various republics, and every time a 
local political disturbance or a revolution breaks 
out the Yellow Journals howl for warships and in- 
tervention to protect the lives and property of 
Americans. 

We have been fed and fostered by such things 
so long that we have grown to associate the name 
Spanish America with savagery, bloodshed, law- 
lessness and dishonesty. Such a course is as ri- 
diculous as the belief among the coloured popula- 
tion of many of the West Indies that negroes are 
daily lynched in New York and that a coloured 
person's life is in constant jeopardy in the United 
States. 

True it is, and unfortunately true, that many of 
our sister republics find it difficult to maintain a 
stable government; that revolutions are of all too 
frequent occurrence; that dishonest and unprin- 
cipled officials are often in power; but this is not 
typical of all nor even of the majority. 

And, if the truth must be told, the revolutions 



HOW WE STAND 13 

are not infrequently financed by American or Eu- 
ropean capital and instigated by some foreigner 
: for purely personal financial benefit. If a firm 
or individual wants a concession and can't obtain 
! it from the government in power, it often pays to 
! upset that particular administration, back another 
i aspirant for the presidency with arms and cash 
i and in return for thus boosting the usurper re- 
ceive the desired concession. This has been done 
in the past and will no doubt be done in the future, 
in some of the smaller republics, for gold has as 
much power there as elsewhere and unscrupulous 
natives can always be found who are ready and 
willing to lead an insur recto "army" if the in- 
ducements are large enough. Such things are not 
confined to comic operas and magazine fiction, they 
are actual facts, and behind more than one de- 
vastating Spanish-American revolution lurks the 
unseen, unknown capitalist or promoter who sits 
safely in his New York office and blusters about 
the uncivilised " greasers' ' and howls for inter- 
vention. 

Even when revolutions do break out, the lives 
of foreigners are seldom in danger ; their property 
is seldom injured or destroyed and it is seldom 






14. WHEREIN WE FAIL 

that they are treated otherwise than with consid- 
eration and courtesy. In every Spanish- American 
land one will find a small army of adventurers ; ex- 
gamblers, ex-politicians, ex-grafters, schemers, dis- 
turbers of the peace, intriguers ; men who are al- 
ways ready and willing to take a hand in anything 
that promises an easy income or loot and who are 
prepared at a moment's notice to drop the "ex": 
and resume their former vocations. If the party 
they favor wins out they reap a snug reward and' 
the world never hears from them, but if the tide of 
fortune swings the other way, — if they are caught 
in the maelstrom of events and meet their just 
deserts, — then the American eagle screams and 
their squeals reach across the thousands of miles 
of ocean and to our ears. 

Of course now and then innocent, law-abiding, 
peaceful Americans are injured or maltreated, 
their property may be injured or confiscated and 
their complaints may be justifiable. But such' 
cases are rare ; warfare — even though it be a petty 
South American insurrection — is careless of the 
individual and his rights. But there is no more 
reason for judging all Spanish- American countries 



HOW WE STAND 15 

by these isolated cases or of assuming that Amer- 
icans' lives and property are unsafe in times of 
; peace or war, than for condemning the entire po- 
lice system of our country and claiming no imu> 
| cent person is safe on our streets merely because 
!an innocent person is occasionally arrested and 
j convicted by mistake. 

The sooner we get these false impressions and 
ideas out of our systems the better. We must re- 
member that the Spanish American is of a differ- 
ent race with a different point of view, different 
ideals, distinct manners and customs and a dif- 
| ferent social and public life, a different language 
and a distinct temperament from our own. We 
cannot judge him by our ideals, any more than he 
can judge us by his. But that doesn 't prevent him 
from being as proud of his race, as fond of his 
country, as convinced of the correctness of his 
point of view as we are of ours. All Spanish 
Americans are not "niggers,' ' all are not coloured, 
all are not ignorant, cruel, dissolute, immoral, 
treacherous, dishonest or hypocritical. Hundreds 
of thousands of Spanish Americans are highly ed- 
ucated, cultured, humane, moral, honest, straight- 



16 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

forward and in courtesy, polish and refinement 
are far ahead of the majority of Americans of the \ 
same social standing. 

That there is some anti-American feeling in 
Spanish America is unquestionable, but it is a 
feeling against the American government and the 
American public as a nation, not against the indi- 
vidual; and if we consider it fairly and squarely 
and with an unbiased mind we will be compelled to i 
admit that the feeling is justifiable. 

If the truth must be told Americans, especially 
when abroad, are apt to be arrogant and overbear- ji 
ing. They walk about, figuratively "dressed in 
the American flag," they openly despise or ridi- f 
cule everything that is not Aanerican or in line ) 
with their ideas, they make no attempt to conceal 
their contempt for the people and institutions 
about them and all too frequently endeavor to 
force the natives to their own way of thinking and 
acting. It is all very well to have a big brother to 
help us out of difficulties, to punish the bully and j 
threaten our assailants with dire vengeance. For 
this we give our brother due respect and homage, 
but when the big brother becomes conscious of his 
importance, is overbearing, condescending and in- 



HOW WE STAND 17 

j terf eres with our private affairs and forgets we 
have put on long trousers and have grown up, then 
1 we are apt to grow resentful ; to forget what he 
has done for us in our childhood quarrels and — 
j from a safe distance — tell him to mind his own 
1 business. 

This is the situation with the Latin Americans. 
When we formulated the Monroe Doctrine the 
southern countries were in their infancy and for 
I many years thereafter our policy and attitude was 
! of the greatest help and benefit, but Uncle Sam 
| has forgotten that the infant republics have grown 
! up, that many of them are able to look after their 
j own affairs, that they no longer need or desire the 
| help of a big brother and that their inhabitants 
i are no longer ignorant, turbulent nor savage. 

We are not the only progressive and highly civ- 
ilised people in the New World and the United 
States — vast, rich and wonderful as they are — 
do not occupy the Western Hemisphere to the ex- 
clusion of all others as many of our citizens seem 
to think. National pride is all very well and we 
have a great deal to be proud of, but in our pride 
we should not overlook facts. Don't forget that 
of the hundred and fifty odd million people inhab- 



18 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

iting the American continents sixty-five millions 
and more are Latin Americans, and don't overlook 
the fact that these people occupy three-fourths of 
the twelve million odd miles of earth comprising 
the republics of the New World. And if our na- 
tional pride requires a further jolt bear in mind 
that the entire United States, without Alaska, 
could be dropped within the borders of Brazil and - 
still leave space enough for New England, New 
York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware to; 
fill in around the edges. Eemember that the Ar- 
gentine is equal in size to all the United States 1 
east of the Mississippi, with the first tier of States : 
west of the "Father of Waters" besides. In Bo- 1 
livia we could find room for every State on the At- 
lantic coast from Maine to Alabama, and the area ; 
of Peru would easily accommodate all the Pacific 
Coast States and the second tier of States to the 
east. Only by such comparisons can we grasp the" 
vast size, resources and possibilities of Latin 
America, a territory we are all too prone to con- 
sider of "little account.' ' Our superior attitude^' 
and the consequent ill-feeling it has produced in 
Spanish America explains in a measure why we 1 
have been all but forced out of the Latin- American ; 



HOW WE STAND 19 

trade by Europeans ; but of more direct and even 
greater influence are smaller and more personal 
reasons which may be easily and quickly over- 
come. 

We have allowed the Spanish- American trade to 
slip through our grasp in the past and have been 
ready with our excuses. If we are really in ear- 
nest, let's stop talking and get to work. If we 
avail ourselves of the opening now within our 
reach there is no reason why America should not 
| hold the bulk of South American trade for all 
! time. But first qf all we must be prepared to ex- 
pend a helping hand to our southern neighbors. 
They have been stricken almost as severely as the 
warring nations of the Old World. Their markets 
have been cut off, they are glutted with raw prod- 
ucts which they cannot sell and in nearly every 
i Latin- American country finances are in a critical 
condition. Our present duty is to render them 
first aid, to tender financial help, to extend credit 
and to buy their raw material, which in the past 
found a ready market in Europe. 

The Spanish Americans need our goods; they 
must have supplies, food, clothing, machinery and 
a thousand things we can supply; but they cannot 



! 



20 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

buy without money, and only by disposing of their 
own products can they secure money. The first 
step we must take is to co-operate, trust, investi- 
gate and pave the way for closer relations, greater 
friendship, and better faith between us and our 
sister republics. Only in this way can we succeed 
in establishing a lasting and enduring trade with 
Spanish America ; a business of vast and wonder- 
ful opportunities, but which to be carried on per-^ 
manently and with success must be built upon a 
foundation of mutual trust, friendship and under- 
standing. 



t 
> 



CHAPTEE II 

IGNORANCE OF CONDITIONS 

i It is scarcely an exaggeration to state that the 
j first and greatest reason for our failure to control 
! Spanish- American trade is ignorance. If a man- 
; ufacturer wishes to succeed he studies conditions. 
i He must know the demand for his goods, must 
have an idea of the expense of production, the cost 
of labour, the percentage of waste, the markets he 
can reach, the competition he must expect, the 
freight rates on his products and a thousand and 
one other details. It is the same way with his 
1 labour. If a workman, a mechanic, an artisan or 
I even an humble porter or teamster is not up to 
the mark he is discharged and another, more com- 
petent, takes his place. The master-mind has his 
fingers on the pulse of his industry; his every ef- 
fort is devoted to studying conditions, to seeking 
better and more efficient means to his ends and to 
perfecting the organisation of his business. 
To carry on a successful export trade demands 

the same knowledge of conditions, the same mas- 

21 



22 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

tery of details, the same personal attention to 
every branch and feature of the trade. But 
scores, yes hundreds, of manufacturers and mer- 
chants attempt to secure and hold the export trade I 
with Spanish America by methods which would not 
prevail in conducting a corner cigar stand. 

Many a man who ships to Spanish America has 
never been to any one of the countries to which he 
sends his goods. He knows nothing of them, of \ 
the resources, people, transportation or other mat- 
ters from personal observation. He accepts re- 
ports from agents or representatives and in many 
cases those whom he trusts to furnish information 
obtain their data at second hand. Scores of large 
houses with a good sized export trade employ in- < 
terpreters and translators in their home offices and 
yet send forth representatives and salesmen who ; 
are ignorant of the language of the countries they ! 
are to visit. The representative is handicapped, 
but finds it possible to "get along' ' in the large ; 
towns where English is spoken. It is pleasant, 
there is a good hotel, there is life and gaiety and 
cool drinks. Thereupon he establishes himself at 
his employer's expense, mingles with the hotel 
habitues, possibly calls upon the larger business 



IGNORANCE OF CONDITIONS 23 

houses, interviews a Yankee consul who may be 
as ignorant of the language and country as him- 
self, talks of " God's Country' ' and the "Greas- 
ers ' ' and eventually returns to headquarters with 
his report. With sublime confidence the report is 
accepted by the employer, who never dreams of 
spending time and money in a personal investiga- 
tion, and yet for all he or his representative knows 
the pleasant acquaintance who vouchsafed much 
of the information may have been the agent of 
some European firm, or even the interpreter, em- 
ployed by the American, may have been in the pay 
of the German consul. 

This may seem like an exaggeration or an ex- 
treme case. It is not. Time and again I have 
met American representatives returning from 
trips to South America who knew no more of the 
real conditions in the countries they had "investi- 
gated" than of Aztec codices and who had been 
"strung" by every one, from the negro boatman 
to the remittance-men who hung out at the hotel 
bar. 

Another matter which enters largely into the 
failure of American firms to "make good" in the 
Spanish-American trade is the lack of adaptabil- 



U WHEREIN WE FAIL 

ity of most Americans. Unless an American has 
lived long and travelled far in Latin countries and 
the tropics he will find it hard work to adapt him- 
self to conditions. The climate, life, travel, ho- 
tels, food, drinks, language, insects, smells, cus- 
toms and everything are new, strange and often 
irritating to the new-comer. As a result he either 
becomes disgusted, can see nothing good, and vili- 
fies everybody and everything while lauding his 
own people and his own country, or he is so anx- 
ious to get away that he makes no attempt to se- 
cure business. 

How different is the attitude of the European 
competitor, for this trade. He arrives quietly 
and unostentatiously, and accepts the disagree- 
able and unpleasant features as part of the 
game. He studiously makes himself at home, he 
becomes acquainted with the merchants and peo- 
ple of the town, he joins a local club or subscribes 
liberally to a local charity, he entertains and is 
entertained, he establishes himself in the confi- 
dence of the people, in the life of the city and then 
is rewarded for his patience and perseverance by 
the orders he seeks. The American rushes breath- 
lessly and perspiring into an office or a store and 



IGNORANCE OF CONDITIONS 25 

with a curt "Good morning," or its equivalent, at- 
tempts to sell the proprietor several thousand dol- 
lars ' worth of goods he does not want and insists 
on payment in thirty or sixty days. The Teuton 
or other European strolls in, dressed in native 
clothes. He consumes perhaps half an hour in 
flowery, complimentary Spanish nothings. He 
makes polite and half-hearted enquiries as to busi- 
ness and after a pleasant hour or so takes his 
leave while the proprietor follows him to the door, 
pats his hack and pronounces him "Muy sim- 
patico. ' ' 

The next day, o*r the next, he calls again ; gradu- 
ally the question of an order is introduced, the 
length of credit is discussed and adjusted to mu- 
tual satisfaction, the order is placed and the mer- 
chant henceforth looks forward to the visits of 
the German salesman as to those of a life-long 
friend. 

If the American \/ould compete with the Eu- 
ropean for the South American trade he must 
learn to make the best of things. He must learn 
politeness, courtesy and unlimited patience. He 
must make friends first and do business after- 
wards. He must be willing to act, talk and think 



26 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

"Mariana" and to constantly bear in mind the old 
adage, "In Eome do as the Eomans do." 

Conservatism, race or religious prejudice, con- 
descension, arrogance, discourtesy or "bluff" 
have no place in Spanish America. The Latin 
American is a gentleman first, last and all the time. 
He has never acquired our custom of being a gen- 
tleman in private life and a boor in business and 
he expects others to be as courteous as himself 
and if they are not he judges them accordingly. 
He may be white, brown, yellow or black, but re- 
member, one of his ancestors was probably a 
plumed grandee of Old Spain. He may have 
fought and bled to throw off the yoke of the Span- 
ish, he may be barefoot, unshaven and poverty- 
stricken, but to him the Spanish tongue, the pride 
of race and patriotism are sacred. You may scoff 
at his ideas, you may laugh at his faith, you may 
curse at the "lazy Greasers" and through it all 
he may smile, treat you with respect and polite- 
ness and greet you with the expressions of the 
greatest pleasure, but in his heart he despises you 
for an ill-bred "Yankee Pig," and thanks God he 
is of Spanish blood. On the other hand, treat the 
Latin American with courtesy, praise the build- 



IGNORANCE OF CONDITIONS 27 

ings and industry of his town, laud his country, 
1 admire his beautiful women, visit his places of his- 
! toric interest, and speak his language and you may 
; command respect, admiration and true friendship 
' and every entertainment and comfort will be 
I yours. 

Altogether too many Americans underrate the 
Latin Americans and the Spaniards. They con- 
sider them gullible fools, behind the times, poor 
business men and unsophisticated. Don't believe 
such things for a minute ; the Spanish American 
and the native Spaniard — and in many places in 
South America the bulk of business is still in the 
hands of Spaniards — is the shrewdest, smartest, 
keenest, business man in the world. 

In Cuba, Porto Eico and Central and South 
America one often looks in vain for a Hebrew 
name above a store and marvels that they are not 
there. The answer is simple; the Jewish mer- 
chant cannot compete successfully with the Span- 
iard. There is a saying that, "It takes two Jews 
to beat a Greek and two Greeks to beat a Gallego," 
and he who tries to get the best of a Spanish busi- 
ness man will find the saying true to his sorrow. 
Not that the Spaniard is underhand, crooked or 



28 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

dishonest; he will drive the sharpest bargain he 
can and expects you to do the same; if you don't 
it's your loss. If you beat him in a fair and open 
deal he has no ill-feeling, but admires you the 
more, but cheat him, work off some underhand 
trick upon him and beware! He may smile and 
treat you with the utmost courtesy, but he will 
never forget nor forgive and sooner or later will 
repay you ten times over. Spaniards and Spanish 
Americans are born diplomats and can give our 
cleverest men cards and spades and then beat them 
hands down, and the salesman or firm that tries to 
cheat, to palm off inferior goods for others or put 
through a shady deal with a Latin- American cus- 
tomer might as well give up all ideas of establish- 
ing South- American trade at once. As the come- 
dian says, "You can't do it!" 

In all Spanish-American countries one sees 
salesmen of both kinds ; those who are irritatingiy 
American, who do not speak Spanish, or pretend 
not to, and who rub the natives the wrong way on 
every occasion ; and on the other hand those who 
speak the tongue, adopt the customs, and ways of 
the natives and "deliver the goods." 

Both types represent American firms ; the one, 



IGNORANCE OF CONDITIONS 29 

the firm whose goods are in every store, in every 
distant mountain town, in every peon's hut. The 
other, the representative of some firm that is striv- 
ing for Latin-American trade, a firm that has 
goods equal or perhaps better than the other's but 

; which ultimately gives up in despair and leaves the 
field to its more adaptable competitor. 

There are scores of competent American travel- 
ling men in Spanish America. One meets them 
everywhere; in the great capitals, in the tiny in- 
terior towns, on the railways, crossing the snow- 
capped mountains on muleback, on the clumsy 
steamers of the great rivers, in Indian canoes on 
forest-shaded streams and on every ship that 
steams across the sunny seas from our ports to 
South America and the Indies. 

These are the men who have built up and made 
successful the trade we have with Spanish Amer- 
ica. Some, Americans by birth, others English, 
Danish, Scotch, Hebrews, French or Germans and 
many of them born or brought up in Spanish- 
speaking countries. These men know their busi- 
ness. They have a personal and intimate knowl- 

! edge of South American people, life, trade and 
conditions. They speak Spanish as well as they 



30 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

do English, they are equally at home in the recep- 
tion room of a president or in the palm-thatched 
shack of a village storekeeper. They can compli- 
ment the black proprietor of a dirty f onda on the 
excellence of oil-soaked beans or pass judgment 
on the epicurean viands of a palatial hotel. They 
know the names, family history and gossip of 
countless "leading families" and call millionaire 
customers "Amigo" and address their daughters 
with the diminutive of their Christian names. 

Where you find such salesmen you will hear no 
talk of "Greasers" and "Niggers," no complaint 
of insults or injuries to Americans, no calling for 
"Intervention," no disparagement of our South 
American neighbors and no complaint about the 
lack of business or the scarcity of cash. They may 
think a lot, but they don't say it, at least in the 
presence of Spanish Americans. 

If our manufacturers and merchants would em- 
ploy such men as these the greatest barrier to our 
holding Spanish- American trade would be over- L 
come. There are plenty of them; the supply is 
far greater than the demand. 



\ 



CHAPTEE III 

SLIPSHOD METHODS 

A very large part of our trade with our southern 
neighbours is carried on through commission 
houses. There are plenty of honest commission 
merchants, no doubt, but there are also many dis- 
honest ones, and in many cases the reputation of 
one must suffer through the transactions of the 
other. In many places in Spanish America all 
commission houses are looked upon with suspicion 
and the natives fight shy of them as much as pos- 
sible. 

The commission merchant without principle has 
a marvellous opportunity to make money at the 
expense of his customers and all too frequently he 
takes advantage of it. I have known personally 
of cases where planters shipped fruit and pro- 
duce to New York commission houses, accompany- 
ing their shipments with orders for goods to be 
purchased and credited against the returns of the 
shipments. As a result the planters never re- 
ceived a cent for their shipments. The bill for 
goods invariably totalled more than the returns 

31 



S2 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

claimed for the fruit and for over a year the plan- : 
ters shipped produce to off-set the debit notes." 
They had no redress; the commission merchant? 
claimed dull markets, loss by decay and weather, 
shortage in shipments, etc, and the planters were 
compelled to accept his word. On the other hand, 
the goods sent the planters were charged for at : 
list prices and the planters lost both ways. I 

Such incidents are of daily and almost universal j 
occurrence and as a result much of the trade which \ 
should come to American houses goes to Europe, ^ 
where commission merchants have the reputation 
of being content with a reasonable profit on their 
transactions and have not yet learned all the 
"Yankee tricks.' ' 

It is usually far more satisfactory to establish 
a branch or an agency than to depend on European 
commission houses in the various countries. 
These firms may be willing to pay cash in advance, [ 
but they already have more lines of goods than \ 
they can handle properly and are not interested in [ 
pushing new lines of goods. As the trade in but 
few articles justifies the expense of sending a spe- | 
cial representative to a distant country or in es- ' 
tablishing branch houses, it is often a good plan \ 



SLIPSHOD METHODS 33 

for several allied, but non-competitive, firms to 
pool their interests and secure a representative or 
agent to act for all. 

Lack of care and skill in packing and shipping 
goods is another factor which militates against 
American trade in Spanish America. This is 
.mainly due to ignorance of conditions. For the 
first few times one might forgive such ignorance, 
but when the attention of the shippers is repeat- 
edly called to the condition in which his goods 
reach their destination and his packing is criticised 
and he still persists in following the same methods, 
we can hardly blame the consignees for placing 
their orders elsewhere. 

In this connection a knowledge of conditions and 
personal investigation of the countries to which 
goods are shipped is of the utmost value and im- 
portance. The merchant may know that his goods 
travel a certain number of miles by sea, a certain 
distance by rail and "two hundred miles by 
mules,' ' but to his mind this conveys no idea of 
what the cases must undergo. He ships goods 
daily to far more distant points ; he ships by rail, 
by boat, by truck and by other means of transpor- 
tation to distant points in the United States, Eu- 



34f WHEREIN WE FAIL 

rope, etc. That his shipments to South America 
require different packing never occurs to him ; or 
more likely he never even knows how they are 
packed, but leaves all such matters to the judg4 
ment of his shipping-clerks. The shipping-clerk 
is probably a poorly paid boy or young man and 
has no more idea of the whereabouts of San Paulo 
or Santa Isabel in Colombia or Peru than he 
would of one of the Lunar craters, and could not, 
tell whether the country was swampy or rocky, 
mountainous or flat, hot or cold, wet or dry, if his 
life depended upon his answer. He knows a cer- 
tain shipment is to be boxed and addressed, he 
selects a packing case that will hold it and packs 
and nails it up in exactly the same manner as iff 
it was addressed to Denver or Montreal and for- 
gets all about it. 

If his "boss" could only watch that poor, 
flimsy, loosely nailed case in its travels his eyes 
would be opened and a certain shipping clerk ^ 
would lose his job. It is no wonder that many 
boxes and packages arrive at their far distant des-f 
tmation in South America in a broken or damaged ( 
condition; the wonder is that any survive. From' 
the time they leave the truck at the steamship !f 



SLIPSHOD METHODS 35 

dock they are mauled, banged, smashed, pounded, 
battered and maltreated in every conceivable way 
until one marvels that anything bnilt of wood and 
; nails can ever escape complete annihilation. 

Our own stevedores are bad enough, goodness 

i knows, and seem to delight in seeing how roughly 

they can handle things, how often they can drive 

their hooks into packages and how frequently they 

| can let the loaded slings bang their contents 

i against stanchions, skids and deck beams; but 

| they are gentle and painstaking as compared to 

, the sweating blacks who unload the ship at the 

other end of the voyage. 

Officers may curse, boss stevedores may rave 
| and consignees may implore, but slam-bang is the 
! order of the day; if a sling gives way and the load 
falls crashing a dozen feet to a stone dock or the 
steel decks it makes no difference; in fact, it's 
rather a divertisement than otherwise, for in pick- 
ing up the cases, nailing the broken tops on the 
boxes and gathering the scattered contents there 
is always a chance of pocketing a tin of edibles 
or some other prize. In many places the steamers 
do not come alongside the docks but discharge into 
lighters alongside. Usually she lies in an open 



36 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

roadstead exposed to the long ocean swell and as 
the ship rolls and swings and the sling runs down 
to the boat far below, it alternately bangs against 
the ship, dips into the sea and swings far outward 
until, by superhuman efforts and "by guess and : 
by Gosh," as the mate expresses it, the cases are 
safely dropped in the lighter. But the troubles 
of the packages have just begun. From the ship \ 
they are lightered a-shore and are either hoisted j 
by a derrick to a flimsy wharf or are dumped hel- if 
ter-skelter on the beach. In the former case a lit- 
tle more banging and slamming about adds to the 
excitement and bustle of "steamer day"; whereas 
upon the beach they are merely subjected to the 
cooling caresses of a few big rollers before being 
lifted to carts or trucks and hauled to the ware- 
house or stores. If the destination of the ship- 
ment is on a railway line it will in due time be \ 
tumbled into the cars, hauled to its proper station s| 
and thrown onto a platform, unless perchance, the >t 
train runs off an embankment, is wrecked by a |i 
landslide or tumbles through a weakened trestle; i 
all of which are part of the day's work in 
Spanish-American railroading. 



SLIPSHOD METHODS 37 

If, on the other hand, the shipment is destined 
j for some small town — or even a large city — that 
1 is not on the railway line it will fare quite differ- 
ently. Sooner or later — usually later — a mule- 
: train or ox-carts arrive from the interior and the 
j boxes — which all this time have reposed quietly 
s in the close, steaming, hot warehouse with their 
gleaming incrustation of dried salt-water upon 
| them — will be piled in the lumbering bull-carts or 
i lashed to the backs of the patient pack-mules. 
| Then, for long days, they will journey over the 
! mountains, exposed alternately to pitiless, blazing 
sunshine, to cloud-burst and drenching rains. 
Eivers will be forded and the chocolate-coloured 
water will swirl sluggishly over the bottom of 
1 the bull-carts or above the saddles of the mules. 
Trails will be followed where packs graze along 
rocky precipices sharp as glass and ragged as gi- 
gantic saws, mules will fall, ox-teams will break 
down, but ultimately, with a jangle of mule-bells, 
the cracking of whips and the raucous cries of 
leather-faced drivers the cavalcade will come 
gaily into the quaint interior town like conquering 
heroes, and what remains of the pine box held to- 



38 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

gether with inch-and-a-half wire nails will be de- 
livered to its consignee. 

In due course it will be opened, its stained, cor- 
roded, muddy, torn, broken and long-suffering 
contents will be exposed, the peon " sweep' ' or 
the swarthy porter will receive the shipment as 
a gift, and the consignee, swearing softly in Span- 
ish, will look up price lists of similar goods ' ' Made 
in Germany." 

This is no exaggerated nor highly-coloured ac- 
count of what packages to South America experi- 
ence ; it is the usual thing and shippers must pre- 
pare for it and pack their goods to withstand as 
much and more. I have seen sewing machines, 
gasolene engines and other heavy metal goods and 
machinery unloaded at South-American ports 
when enclosed only in light open crates. Such 
packages would serve every purpose if the objects 
were to be shipped from one point in the United 
States to another. But imagine the condition the 
contents would be in after they had been exposed 1 
to salt water, rain, sun, dust, mud, mule-back and 
ox-team en route to their destination! 

What a contrast we find when we examine into, 
the packing of European goods. I have time and 



SLIPSHOD METHODS 39 

j again seen stout boxes from Europe which when 
! opened exposed a neat soldered tin case. This in 
turn was opened to reveal tightly-tied bundles of 
oiled-silk paper and when at last the final wrap- 
pings of heavy paper were removed and the con- 
tents were revealed they turned out to be cheap, 
coloured, cotton prints ! 

Even when shipments are properly packed 
American shippers are often careless in the mat- 
ter of invoices, bills-of-lading and other shipping 
details. Absolutely accurate papers are neces- 
sary in many Spanish-American countries. The 
Latin American is not compelled to buy from us 
and if we don't do things right and cause annoy- 
ance, delay or unnecessary expense we can't blame 
him if he buys from European firms who are care- 
ful of these "little things.' ' In many Spanish 
countries the duties are fixed ; in other words, each 
and every conceivable article and class of article 
is assessed at a definite duty, regardless of value. 
Oftentimes the duty on one object may be unrea- 
sonably higher than on another of a very similar 
sort and unless the shipment is properly billed 
and invoiced the consignee may be compelled to 
pay a duty far in excess of that his shipment 



40 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

called for. A case of this sort came under my 
own observation. In the country where this oc- 
curred the duty on shirts with collars and cuffs 
attached was fixed at a certain rate, the duty on 
shirts without collars and cuffs was at another 
rate and collars and cuffs separately were dutia- 
ble at still other rates. A merchant ordered a 
case of shirts without collars but with detachable 
cuffs. The shipment was sent, but the invoice 
called for so many shirts — no mention being made 
of the cuffs. When the box was opened in the 
customs house each shirt was seen to contain the 
cuffs that went with it and the poor shopkeeper 
was compelled to pay a ten dollar fine for attempt- 
ing* to smuggle in cuffs and was obliged to pay 
duty on shirts and cuffs separately in addition. 
Had the invoice been made out properly, or had 
the New York merchant looked into the question 
of the duties of the country, the mistake could 
have been avoided, the consignee would have been 
saved time, money and the stigma of being ac- 
cused as a smuggler and the future orders would 
have gone to New York. As it was the American 
shippers absolutely refused to adjust matters — 
although it was obviously their fault — and a Eu- 






SLIPSHOD METHODS 41 

ropean firm received the future orders, which 
amounted to thousands of dollars yearly. 

The importance of accurate bills-of-lading is 
just as great. Goods are frequently mislaid, lost, 
broken or damaged in transportation and if the 
hill-of -lading is not absolutely correct it is a diffi- 
cult matter indeed to obtain redress from the 
transportation companies. 

We may laugh all we please at the "graft" and 
bribery of Spanish-American officials and of 
course there are dishonest ones among them as 
well as among our own, but the Spanish- American 
official is a most punctilious and positive chap 
when it comes to matters in writing. If an in- 
voice or a bill of lading calls for a certain thing, 
that thing must be forthcoming or none at all. 
Arguments are useless; it's none of his business 
how the mistakes occurred and he's not paid to 
straighten them out. 

Failure to fill out papers properly, mistakes or 
omissions, ignorance of customs laws and regula- 
tions and lost, mislaid or missent papers and doc- 
uments cause endless and constant trouble for the 
consignees in Spanish America. Many shipping 
clerks appear to think that the same formality 



42 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

that serves for one country will serve equally well 
for another and they fill out all invoices, bills-of- 
lading, etc., in exactly the same manner, regard- 
less of the destination of the goods. All this is 
annoying, expensive and irritating to the South 
American and moreover it is inexcusable. Any 
American firm or factory can secure authoritative 
and reliable information regarding the country to j 
which he is shipping goods by making enquiries of j 
the country's consulate. Many times shippers 
seek information of the officers of the steam- 
ship lines by which their goods are to be for- 
warded. This is an unreliable and uncertain 
method. Steamship companies ought to know 
about such things, but it often happens that they I 
don't. They are familiar with certain lines of 
work, definite kinds of papers and port charges, j 
wharfage rates and similar matters; outside of 
that they may be very ignorant ; but did any one 
ever hear a clerk in a steamship office admit there 
was anything he did not know? 

One of the most frequent questions asked by \ 
American merchants and manufacturers is, 
"What are the duties in Spanish America?" 
The matter of duties on imports has practically no 



SLIPSHOD METHODS 43 

bearing whatever on our trade and need not enter 
into the calculations of profit or loss at all. It is 
I a mistake for a merchant or manufacturer to look 
at the matter from the same point of view as he 
would consider domestic trade. The foreigner 
may be excluded or hampered in his trade with 
the United States, owing to our tariff, but it is 
quite a different matter with Latin America. In 
nearly every instance all the duties in Spanish 
America are for revenue only and not for protec- 
tion of home industries or products. Where rev- 
enue tariffs are in force there is no reciprocity and 
every country exporting goods must pay the same 
tariff, which in the end is paid by the consumer. 
In a few countries there are a limited number of 
protected industries, but as a rule they do not ex- 
ist. In some ways the tariff is of importance, but 
the duties and the laws governing commerce vary 
so greatly in the various republics that each must 
be considered separately and the merchant or 
manufacturer interested in trade with any Latin- 
American country should obtain full information 
in regard to such matters from either the Pan- 
American Union in Washington or from the near- 
est consulate of the country involved. As one 



44 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

authority recently expressed it, "The best advice 
regarding the tariff is to ' forget it.' " This is 
good, sound, sensible advice. The Latin-Amer- 
ican merchant does not expect you to quote prices 
with duties paid. He knows what they will 
amount to and prefers to attend to them himself { 
and he can do it far better than either you or your 

representatives. f 

i 

i. 



f 



CHAPTER IV 

CREDITS AND CONSULS 

Even when American business men have over- 
come all other obstacles to success in establishing 
a South-American trade they are apt to balk at 
the question of credit. At home they are accus- 
tomed to a thirty, sixty, or ninety-day credit sys- 
tem before they grant credit at all, and when such 
methods fall flat in dealing with Latin America 
negotiations are at a standstill. 

The ideas that Spanish Americans cannot be 
trusted, that long or large credit cannot be safely 
granted or that the rating of Latin-American 
merchants cannot be learned are absolutely with- 
out foundation in fact. 

To deal successfully with South and Central 
American houses and firms, extensive credit must 
be given. It is a necessary part of Spanish- Amer- 
ican business. In refusing this we fail in a most 
important, indeed vital, detail, and many a man's 
bright outlook for export trade to the southern 
republics has vanished into thin air through his 

45 



46 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

shortsightedness in refusing credit to his cus- 
tomers. 

Why a credit system of the sort in vogue is 
necessary to the Spanish American is hard to un- 
derstand, unless we are familiar with the busi- 
ness methods and customs of the countries. In 
many places practically all business is " paper" 
and comparatively little actual cash changes 
hands. A vast number of the producers of South 
and Central America and the West Indies are men 
of small or moderate means. Men who own or 
lease a few acres of land and raise cacao, coffee, ■ 
or other products which they sell to the merchants 
and exporters. These small farmers have prac- 
tically no capital and no resources, other than the 
returns from their crops, and for six months or 
so are obliged to live on credit; for what they j. 
make over and above their expenses must be 
turned back into the production of their next 
crop. As a result, the small planter asks and re- 
ceives credit from his merchant or buyer, receiv- 
ing supplies on the strength of the estimated value J 
of his crop. As the merchant cannot realise on 
the crop until it is gathered and shipped to the.| 
foreign market and as he is compelled to keep up 



CREDITS AND CONSULS 47 

his stock in trade to supply the planter, he in turn 
asks for an equally long credit from the exporters 
abroad; basing his expectation of meeting obli- 
gations on the crop to be furnished by the plan- 
ter. If the crop comes up to expectations the 
foreign exporter is paid, the planter's account is 
wiped out and a new credit account is started for 
the next season. If the crop exceeds expecta- 
tions every one is happy and prosperous. On 
the other hand, if the crop falls short the mer- 
chant cannot meet his obligations in full or must 
borrow elsewhere, and as the planter will look to 
him for supplies or go to the wall and the mer- 
chant must maintain his stock or fail, an exten- 
sion of credit is requested. It is rare indeed that 
the shrewd merchant overestimates the crops or 
grants credit to its full value, and while accounts 
may be carried over from year to year, as the 
planter increases his cultivation and the merchant 
adds to his business, yet eventually no one loses. 
Herein the European, and especially the English 
and French, exporters and manufacturers win 
over us. They are willing to grant the long 
credit, they are willing to advance cash, through 
their bankers, on crops and are willing to carry 



48 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

running accounts for years. Not so with the 
American; he demands short-time credit, insists 
on payment promptly and in full, and if it is not \ 
forthcoming blacklists the delinquent merchant • 
and loses the trade. 

Another most important matter is that of trade- 
marks. The great proportion of inhabitants of i 
Spanish America are illiterate and unable to read ; 
or write and labels or names of goods, even in,; 
their own language, mean nothing to them. A 
peculiar design or trade-mark is, however, intelli- ' 
gible and easily remembered. If a certain article j 
is adapted to the uses of the people, if it proves 
superior to others, the users keep the trade-mark 
in mind and demand the goods bearing that mark. 
As long as the trade-mark really means some- 
thing, as long as it stands for a definite quality' 
or style, so long will the people demand it and 
stand by it. Let the exporter place the trade- 
mark on goods of inferior quality or of a different | 
kind and as soon as the people discover the fraud 
they lose faith in the trade-mark and in all goods 
from the same source. British and French man- 
ufacturers guard their trade-marks with the ut- 
most care. They stand for definite qualities and 



■ 



CREDITS AND CONSULS 49 

certain classes and styles of goods and the Latin 
I Americans know it and appreciate it. For gen- 
i erations they have been accustomed to purchasing 
\ goods bearing certain symbols and they know that 
! their children and their children's children will 
| still be able to buy the goods stamped with these 
I marks with the same confidence as did their 
I fathers and perhaps their grandfathers before 
| them. 

But how about the American " trade-marks"? 
| They are l ' trade-marks ' ' and nothing more, and 
! like " trade-names" may bear no relation to the 
goods they adorn. Mention an American trade- 
mark to a West Indian or a Spanish American 
and he will laugh at you; they have learned by 
1 bitter experience how little they can depend upon 
them. You can't fool a Latin American more 
than once or twice and there's no use in trying. 
He may be an ignorant peon, unable to read or 
write, but he knows "what he wants when he 
wants it," and he knows a good thing from bad 
and he doesn't intend to waste his hard-earned 
pesos by experimenting and running risks and 
he'll buy the goods with the mark he can bank on, 
every time. 



50 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

Somewhat akin to the trade-mark proposition i 
is that of ' ' samples. ' ' It is the custom of numer- 
ous American salesmen to show samples of shoes, 
dress goods, clothing and various other articles, 
of a very superior quality, book orders from these 
samples andlill the orders with an inferior quality 
of goods bearing the same name and trade-mark 
(or one so similar as to be readily mistaken for it),: 
and in appearance, finish and other details closely, 
imitating the original samples. 

He may "get by" once or twice at this game and 
may laugh in his sleeve at how he fooled the 
"greasers" ; I have heard them boasting of such: 
tricks on many a steamer homeward bound from 
the tropics. But it's a good bet that the 
"greaser" doesn't place another order with the 
smart salesman's firm and, as in many other cases, r 
the innocent suffers for the misdeeds of the 
guilty and American exports to the victimised dis- 1 
trict rapidly fall off . J 

So difficult has it become for many Latin-Amer- k 
ican merchants to feel sure of receiving the 
identical goods they order that many of them come 
to the United States and buy their stock here. 
When a merchant will spend several hundred dol- 



CREDITS AND CONSULS 51 

lars in transportation, will leave his home and 
business for months, will travel thousands of 
miles to a strange land and will suffer agonies of 
| seasickness to buy goods which he could obtain 
! without discomfort or needless expense from Eu- 
| rope, it proves how anxious he is to secure Amer- 
I ican-made articles and how little faith he has in 
American travelling salesmen. 

In every country of any importance we have 
consuls whose duty it is to foster and encourage 
American trade, to win the confidence of the na- 
i tives, to safeguard their nation's and country- 
men's welfare and to uphold the dignity and honor 
of the American flag. Many of them do all this 
and more. Many are miserably underpaid, mis- 
erably housed and their conscientious efforts and 
unceasing labours to further American interests 
pass unnoticed, unthanked and unrewarded. On 
the other hand many are a disgrace to their coun- 
try and their flag. They are "political debts,' ' 
as one American lady expressed it ; men who care 
nothing for the welfare of their fellow Americans 
or the trade of their country. Men who never 
were capable of earning a decent salary at home 
and to whom the meagre pay of a consul or vice- 



. 



52 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

consul is a fortune. Men who adopt the vices 
and immoralities of the countries where they are - 
stationed and spend most of their time drinking 
and carousing at the expense of convivial travel- 
lers, local renegades and native " sports." This l 
may seem strong language, exaggeration and un- 
patriotic, but it falls short of what might be said ] 
of many individual cases. Far be it from me to 
condemn the whole diplomatic corps as incompe- f 
tent, apathetic or subject to criticism. There are 
many splendid, talented, energetic, high-minded 
men representing our great country even in Span- 
ish America and the West Indies. My own life 
was saved through the efforts of one of them, I 
have received innumerable courtesies, invaluable 
help and priceless services at their hands and feel 
honoured that I can count them among my friends, J 
but far too often they are of the other type. 

Of what use or value to Americans or American 1 
trade is a consul who is British born, an English \ 
citizen, the agent for a European line of steam- f 
ships, the manager of an estate owned by a Brit- 
ish firm with headquarters in London and whose 
entire sympathies, ties and point of view are Brit- 
ish? Add to this the fact that his income from 



CREDITS AND CONSULS 53 

European sources is several times as great as 
from his consular duties, that he is famous as a 
hard drinker, a " sport" and an all round "good 
fellow,' ' that his morals, or rather his lack of 
morals, are a standing joke in a country where 
morality is conspicuous by its absence, and you 
have some idea of one consular representative 
that holds down his job and makes the Stars and 
Stripes the laughing stock of one of the British 
West Indies. 

His is not an unusual case; there are plenty 
more like him scattered about through the smaller 
islands, countries and towns of tropical America. 
They hold their positions through "pull" and 
graft and as they are merely "vice consuls" and 
"consular agents" our State Department seems 
to consider that they are "good enough," as if, 
forsooth, it was not as important to have a proper 
vice-consul or consular-agent to honour our flag 
and help our trade in a small place as to have a 
worthy consul general or ambassador in a me- 
tropolis. 

Another fault with our consuls is the fact that 
many of them do not speak or understand the 
language of the country. Such men are handi- 



54 WHEREIN WE FAIL 

capped regardless of their standing, intelligence ■■ 
or ambition, and the wonder is that they accom 
plish as much as they do. Many of them realise 
the importance of acquiring the local tongue and 
set diligently to work to Jearn it. Often they suc- 
ceed, but by the time they have mastered Spanish 
they are suddenly transferred — as likely as not — 
to Greece, Persia or China, where a new language 
and new customs confront them and their Span- ; 
ish and knowledge of Latin- American conditions 
goes for naught. Truly it must be discouraging 
for a man thus to be ordered from pillar to post, 
to learn one people's ways only to confront rad- 
ically different races, and we cannot blame them if 
after a few such experiences they give up in de- 1 
spair and trust their business to native inter- 
preters and secretaries. 

• A consul or a consular-agent is primarily and 
principally a commercial proposition and where 
our trade is least there we need the best consuls. 
If we want to succeed in the Spanish- American 
trade, if we want to hold our own, we must look i 
to it that our consular representatives in Spanish 
America are the best we can obtain. Let them 
be selected for their fitness for their position ; let 



CREDITS AND CONSULS 55 

them be retained only as they prove their effi- 
ciency and let American manufacturers, American 
merchants and the American public demand that 
this be so. 



paet n 

HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 



CHAPTER V 

WINNING CONFIDENCE 

A pkominent Latin-American consul recently 
said, "The American business man has a lot to 
unlearn if he wants to get the $500,000,000 worth 
of orphaned trade now in South America. ' ' 

Those were the truest words ever uttered in re- 
gard to our trade with Spanish America. 

The keynote to the whole situation is "Un- 
learn." Then when you have unlearned every- 
thing you thought you knew and have rid yourself 
of the malicious, false and erroneous ideas that 
passed for facts in your mind, start in and learn 
the truth. 

One of the first things to unlearn is suspicion 
and distrust of our Spanish- American neighbours. 
Who first started the idea that the respectable 
Latin American was any less to be trusted in busi- 
ness than any other man, is not known, but the 
popular idea has taken root and grown until now 
it is as firmly established as many another myth- 
ical idea. The greatest of mistakes that many 

59 



t 



60 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED, 

American business men make, in trying to do busi- 
ness with Spanish Americans, is their evident 
lack of confidence, an openly distrustful manner, 
very different from the treatment they would ac- 
cord to other Americans or even to Europeans. \ 
If we are to succeed in business with the^Latin 
Americans we must first of all win their confi- 
dence and in order to do this we must show our 
confidence in them. You would not expect to 
carry on a business with a fellow countryman if 
you distrusted him and he knew it; why should | 
you expect to do it with Spanish Americans who 
are far more sensitive and easily offended than 
any people of Teutonic or Anglo-Saxon blood. 
And after all why do we have such an inborn dis- 
trust of the Latin American! Why do we men- 
tally picture him as a bloodthirsty, cruel, vindic- 
tive, sneaking, swarthy, black-whiskered, dirty 
cutthroat with a knife in his boot and a pleasant 
and playful manner of sticking that same knife 
into one's back upon the slightest provocation? 
For generations we have been fed and fostered 
upon stories, tales, plays and traditions in which 
the Spanish American was invariably all this and 
more. He is always pictured as a villain, never 



WINNING CONFIDENCE 61 

as a hero. In the tales of early discovery and 
conquest he inevitably suffered by comparison 
with the English, French and Dutch ; in the stories 
I of pirates, buccaneers and other freebooters the 
Spaniard was always cruel, merciless and an ar- 
rant coward to boot, while the doughty English- 
man was painted in romantic hue and often as a 
brave and chivalrous gentleman; and in modern 
times, whenever trouble brews in Spanish Amer- 
ica, we hear lurid tales of the overbearing, cruel, 
treacherous and savage native in contrast to the 
innocent, maltreated and much-abused Anglo- 
Saxon. 

All this is mighty good nonsense to unlearn. 
Four or five hundred years ago the whole world 
was cruel and bloodthirsty according to our pres- 
ent point of view. The Spanish conquistadors 
killed off the Indians by thousands and perpe- 
trated unbelievable cruelties and oppression; so 
did the British, the French, the Portuguese and 
the Dutch. When the rich galleons and plate- 
ships sailed forth from the New World for Spain, 
who were the first to attack the ships, murder 
their passengers and crews and loot the gold? 
Spaniards? Not a bit of it; they were English, 



62 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

and the scum and scrapings of every gutter and 
waterside of England. Who sacked and burnt 
Panama and massacred its inhabitants with every 
form of devilish cruelty? Who forced the priests 
and nuns to place the scaling ladders against the j 
walls of doomed La Guayra? — Who nailed the 
friars to the crosses in their churches and gave 
the wives and daughters of governors and vice- 
roys to their villainous, ruffianly sailors? The 
English, to be sure; the romantic, chivalrous, , 
brave " hearts of oak." And when we have lived \ 
long in Latin America and know from observa- i 
tion and experience the character of many of the l 
Anglo-Saxons in those countries, and how they 
behave, the red ink of Yellow Journals loses its I 
significance, for great is the provocation such peo- 
ple create in the countries they disgrace with their 
presence. 

The Spanish American has his faults — plenty 
of them; so has the Teuton, the Celt, the Anglo- 
Saxon and every other race, but they are not the 
faults we associate with him. The bulk of Latin 
Americans are quiet, mild mannered, peaceable, 
almost childish in disposition. They are hospita- 
ble in the extreme and ready and willing to share 



WINNING CONFIDENCE 63 

i their last mouthful with an utter stranger. They 
'may be careless of sanitary conditions, the streets 
of their towns may be filthy, they may be ragged, 
barefooted and poverty-stricken, but if there is a 
river, lake or ocean within reach they will bathe. 
Many of the South- American towns are models of 
cleanliness, many are provided with splendid san- 
itation, and if cleanliness is next to Godliness a 
lot of "West Indians and South Americans will find 
a short road to heaven. To be sure they are tem- 
peramental, effervescent and quick to take offence, 
but their spontaneous gaiety, light heartedness 
and natural courtesy more than offset their other 
characteristics. They love a good "scrap" and 
find vent for their superabundant spirits in revo- 
lutions all too frequently, but nine times out of 
ten the revolts are not popular and are forced on 
the ignorant rank and file by unscrupulous poli- 
ticians, just as gang rule and political "rings" 
are forced on us. We must remember, however, 
that the Spanish-American republics are young 
and have not yet learned that peace spells pros- 
perity with a big "P." They'll succeed in time 
if we give them half a chance and don't "butt in." 
There is no question of this ; our intervention has 






64 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

never done any good. The countries with which 
we have interfered least have progressed the most f 
and have the best governments; whereas those 
with whom we have interfered are as unstable as 
ever. Look at Argentine, Brazil, Costa Eica and 
Chile and compare their progress and stability 
with Venezuela, Santo Domingo and Mexico. 
Don't imagine, however, that every Spanish- 
American country has a "revolution with cof- \ 
fee" each morning. That's pure nonsense, many 
of them haven't had an insurrection for so long 
that they've forgotten there are such things. 
Even during their family quarrels business isn't 
affected very much and most of the established 
firms have been through so many revolutions 
that one or two more or less will not trouble 
them. 

Even in a revolution every one's life is not in } 
jeopardy; we kill more people by trolley cars, 
automobiles and football games every year than : 
Spanish- American revolutions kill in warfare and 
we would laugh at the foreigner who hesitated to 
do business in New York for fear of death by ve- 
hicles. 

Most of the other popular notions about our 



WINNING CONFIDENCE 65 

southern neighbours are just as foolish and have 
as little foundation in fact. 

The rank and file of Spanish Americans don't 
wear boots and are too poor to own knives, and 
| as for using such implements on their fellow-men, 
and especially foreigners, the idea is absolutely 
laughable. In every large city, whether in Eu- 
rope, the United States or Latin America, there 
i are slums. Wherever there are slums there are 
; thugs, cutthroats and ruffians, and wherever there 
are human beings of this sort a knife, revolver, 
sand-bag or razor frequently comes into play, but 
there is no slum of any Latin-American town 
where a man or woman is not safer than in many 
1 of the East Side streets of New York. 

The Spanish American is not " handy" with a 
knife, — he much prefers a gun which he don't 
know how to use or a machete which he does. 

He may be part Indian and possess some of the 
Indian's traits; he may be part coloured and have 
J the characteristics of the negro, but there is no 
; more sense in talking of the character, tempera- 
I ment, manners or appearance of Spanish Ameri- 
I cans as a race, than of including Scandinavians, 
! Germans, British, French and Italians under one 



66 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

heading and trying to define their character, man- 
ners, temperament and appearance as " Euro- 
peans. " There is about as much similarity be- 
tween a Mexican and a Costa Eican as between a 
Eussian and a Dutchman ; almost as much differ- f 
ence between a Venezuelan and an Argentinian 
as between an Italian and an Irishman, as far as 
customs, temperament, ideals and appearances f 
are concerned. All speak dialects of the same \ 
tongue, all are of more or less Spanish stock, but 
even the word "Spanish" means really very lit- 
tle ; there is a vast difference between a Catalan ] 
and a G-allego; between a Basque and an Adalu- 
sian. When for the first time we visit certain 
parts of Latin America and instead of swarthy, 
dark-browed, black-whiskered men and dusky, 
olive-skinned women we see ruddy-cheeked, red-' 
bearded, blue-eyed men and peach-skinned, golden- 
haired women our preconceived ideas of our' 
southern neighbours vanish and we realise how' 
much we have to unlearn. All this matter may' 1 
seem incongruous and may appear to have little 
or no bearing on our trade with Spanish America. 
That's a mistake; we've got to understand the 
people, their ways, their racial characteristics and l 



WINNING CONFIDENCE 67 

have got to throw away all our old-fashioned, 
foolish, nonsensical notions in order to start out 
right and meet Latin Americans on a basis of 
mutual friendship, trust and understanding. It's 
useless to try to have faith in a man in a business 
deal if we don't trust him personally and there's 
no more reason for not trusting the Spanish 
Americans, both personally and in business, than 
any other race. 

The merchant of Latin America is usually a 
man of honor, a man who has come from a long 
line of business men, who is bound by tradition to 
uphold the honours and reputation of his ances- 
tors. He may be buried to the ears in old-fash- 
ioned ideas, conventionalities and etiquette; but 
he is honest, straightforward and his word is as 
good as his bond. For generations his house may 
have bought from the same firm, have bought the 
same line of goods; have dealt with the same 
salesmen, have been given the same credits, until 
a bond of friendship and familiarity has been es- 
tablished which it is hard to break. He has con- 
fidence in the firm from which he buys, they have 
confidence in him and he deals with his customers 
in the same way. Until some great and unsur- 






68 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

mountable event transpires to compel a change , 
he will be deaf to all proposals, offers or induce- 
ments from outsiders. Such an event is the Eu- 
ropean war and thousands of Spanish-American 
firms and merchants have been suddenly cut off] 
from their customary source of supply, have : 
found they must break away from the old and 
adopt the new and in their dilemma turn to the f 
great republic in the north. 

For a time such merchants will buy of us be- 7 
cause they are obliged to, then, if they have our 
confidence and we have theirs, they will buy be- 
cause they prefer to, and in the end they will buy 
because it's become a habit and a custom. 

But this cannot be done in a day or in a month jj 
or a year; it must be done slowly, gradually and 
with patience and perseverance. Nothing moves 
rapidly in Spanish America and we must bear in 
mind that as we are unlearning false impressions 
of Latin America and Latin Americans so too they || 
are unlearning erroneous ideas about us. Don't}; 
expect the business to go through with a rush. If [ 
you attempt to hurry and fume at delays you will 
never succeed in the South American trade. The \ 
' ' Costumbre del pais" (custom of the country) is a 



WINNING CONFIDENCE 69 

sacred thing to the Spanish American and certain 
formalities must be observed. It often takes two 
or three visits to a Latin- American merchant be- 
fore the question of business can be broached. 
First, you must win his confidence, either by let- 
ters of introduction or an interview, next you must 
make a social call and become acquainted and 
finally hint at the purpose of your visit and dis- 
cuss matters in a friendly way. Of course he 
knew what you came for in the beginning, he knew 
whether he was going to order or not, he knew 
how much he was going to buy, he knew the credit 
he would ask and how much he would concede, 
and what's more, he knew that you knew that he 
knew; but the social side of life is intimately as- 
sociated with business in Spanish America and 
the etiquette must be carried out to the letter. 

The Latin American of good standing guards 
his reputation as something sacred, and if we 
would do business with him we must prove to his 
satisfaction that our reputation is equal to his 
own. Only by straightforward, honest, liberal 
and unquestionable dealings can we succeed in 
South American trade and every manufacturer, 
merchant or exporter who expects to build up a 



70 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

Spanish- American trade must establish his repu- 
tation and maintain it. 

Not only mnst goods be furnished which are up 
to the standard and of uniform quality, but they 
must be properly shipped, every detail must be 
attended to, invoices, bills-of-lading and other pa- 
pers must be correct and beyond criticism and the 
goods must be packed in such a way as to arrive \ 
safely and in good condition at their destination, f 

The matter of improper packing has been ? 
touched on in a former chapter; now let us con- 
sider the question of proper packing. 

If you have a local or European trade don't f 
imagine that the same methods of wrapping, box- 
ing and shipping to which you are accustomed \ 
will serve for the South American trade. Keep p 
the two packing departments separate. Provide 
a different class of packings and boxes for the ! 
southern-bound goods and if necessary employ \ 
experienced and competent men to attend to this 
work alone. A man may be able to pack china, f 
glassware or other easily injured goods and have f 
them arrive safely in California, Europe or Can- 
ada, but that doesn't prove that he's capable of 
packing a shipment of shoes for some distant 



WINNING CONFIDENCE 71 

I point in the interior of Colombia, Peru or Brazil. 
Don't be miserly with packings, boxes or nails. 
' The cost of proper packages is small as compared 
I to the loss of a single shipment or a single ens- 
j tomer and for shipments to Spanish America the 
I best is none too good. If the goods are liable to 
injury by dampness or water wrap them in oiled- 
paper, seal them in metal cases and enclose the 
whole in wooden boxes if necessary. Don't use 
light, flimsy, veneer-thin basswood or pine boxes, 
open crates, or pasteboard coverings. Good, 
strong, thick, reinforced, solid pine or spruce 
boxes and tight, strong barrels are the only things 
that will stand the racket. See that sides, bottom 
and top are securely nailed or screwed in place, 
and if possible bind edges and corners with iron 
strips in addition. Don't make individual cases 
too large or too heavy. In many places your 
packages must be handled without derricks or 
tackle, they must be carried through surf and 
down rapid-filled rivers in dug-out canoes or small 
sailing craft, they must be loaded into ox-carts 
and hauled for countless weary miles over terri- 
ble roads or must be loaded on pack mules and 
toted over hand-wide trails along the brinks of 



72 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

precipices and through fearful mountain gorges. P 

Mark every case and package plainly with the - 

address of the consignee, mark the weight and 

cubic feet plainly on the case in both metric and ; 

English units. Then instruct your representa- I 

tives, and request your customers, to report any I 

damages or injuries to the packages and ask them \ 

for any suggestions as to improvements in pack- ■ 

ing and follow such suggestions absolutely. 

Even when your goods are safely and properly 

packed and have left your premises, don't rest I 

easy until you know they are actually on board ] 

[ 
ship and properly stowed. It will be money in 

your pocket to have at least one man whose duty 
it is to see every consignment placed on board 
ship. Much of the trouble, complaint and dissat- 
isfaction over shipments to tropical and southern 
America is due to the carelessness of employees 
of steamship lines. Most of the South Ameri- 
can and West Indian steamers sail at infrequent 
intervals and on a somewhat indefinite and irreg- 
ular schedule. They are usually filled pretty 
nearly to their full capacity with freight — if they 
were not they would stop running — and there is 
invariably a vast amount of confusion and rush 



WINNING CONFIDENCE 73 

at the last moment. A consignment may easily 
be overlooked on the dock, or it may be confused 
and the various packages so separated and mixed 
1 among others that a part of the shipment is un- 
! loaded at one place and the rest at another. The 
; number of packages that are "overcarried" on 
; every trip of many West Indian and South Amer- 
| ican ships is almost incredible. If a box or bale 
for a certain port is accidentally or carelessly 
placed among cargo for some other port, the 
chances are ten to one it will be carried to that 
other port. Possibly the purser may notice that 
he is one box shy at one port and may keep his 
eyes open for the missing package at other ports, 
or he may notice he has one box more than called 
for and investigate. The chances are, however, 
that he'll never notice it until he checks up his 
papers and by that time the cargo will be ashore 
and scattered to the four winds. Still more often, 
if he notices a discrepancy, he'll lay it to the fault 
of shipping-clerks and decide they've made a mis- 
take on their invoices and bills-of-lading. Per- 
haps the case may be found and returned to the 
local steamship agent, who in turn delivers it to 
the ship on her next trip and (if she calls there) 



74 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

she'll deliver it at last to its proper destination 
perhaps a month, or two or three months, after it 
should have arrived. Far more often, however, 
the box is lost forever or is carried back to New 
York, is started forth again, is again overcarried 
and travels back and forth, like the Wandering 
Jew, indefinitely. I have had this experience 
many a time, and have had cases at last reach 
their destination after they were missing a year 
and had travelled to pretty nearly every port in 
the West Indies and northern South America. 
I've also had the other fellow's cases come to me, 
have reshipped them and thought them safely off 
my hands, only to have them bob up again on the 
next trip, or a subsequent arrival, of the ship. 

Many of the packages shipped are addressed 
only with the consignees' "marks"; weird hiero- 
glyphics which save a great deal of time on the 
part of the shipping-clerks but are a nuisance and 
constant source of confusion to others. Of course 
it's much easier to paint a big circle with a daub 
in the centre than to print a man's or a firm's 
name, and it's easier for the tally-clerk on the 
ship to catch such symbols, as the boxes swing up 
or down through the hatches, than to read long 



. 



WINNING CONFIDENCE 75 

foreign names and addresses. The system is all 
! right if it was followed ont carefully and prop- 
! erly. At first thought it wouldn't seem difficult 
to distinguish D. S. in a circle from P. Z. in a 
square, but if the circle is crudely made and the 
square has rounded corners it's an easy matter 
to mistake one for the other as the sling full of 
boxes swings over the rail, especially when un- 
loading at night by the fitful glare of a bunch of 
incandescent lamps. The only sure way is to have 
a stencil for each mark and have the symbols large 
and plain enough to be seen at a glance. Then 
have the packages marked with the consignee's 
full name in addition. 

Kemember also that there are scores, yes hun- 
dreds, of towns of the same name scattered in the 
various Spanish- American countries, or even in 
the same country. Be sure and mark the name 
of the country and province on the packages and 
papers as well as the name of the town. A great 
many South American and West Indian towns are 
commonly known by an abbreviation of their 
name. Be sure the name is written in full; for 
example, "Macoris" in Santo Domingo may be 
either San Francisco, or San Pedro de Macoris. 



76 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

There are San Juans, Santiagos and innumerable I 
other Sans and Santas, in pretty nearly every |f 
Spanish-American country, and perhaps the 
purser, tally-clerk or other ship's officers have 
only one of them in mind and take it for granted 
the packages belong there. You can't be too care- 
ful of such things; successful Spanish- American 
trade depends upon details and what may seem 
very unimportant to you may be of the utmost 
importance at the other end of the line. 

Another matter that should be more strictly at- 
tended to is promptness. Many an American 
thinks, because Spanish America is the land of 
"manana,'' that time doesn't count. He thinks 
he can ship an order next week or next month as 
well as to-day. This is not the case ; your Span- 
ish American may be slow in some ways, he may 
be lax in keeping his appointment to the minute, 
but in certain things he must be on time or fail 
altogether. Where steamers arrive but once a 
month or so, the natives know they've got to be on 
hand for that steamer or wait a month. If they 
live in the interior and send a special mule-train 
or cargo-carts to the coast for an expected ship- 



WINNING CONFIDENCE 77 

ment and the shipment does not arrive it means 
a lot of expense, delay and trouble. 

Transportation overseas to Spanish America is 
bad enough and uncertain enough without making 
matters worse by carelessness in not shipping on 
time and unnecessary delay. 

No matter how much care one may take in pack- 
ing, how minutely all the details of shipping may 
be attended to, how conscientiously orders are 
filled and how completely we have won the confi- 
dence of our customers, we cannot carry on a suc- 
cessful trade with South America unless we have 
the proper representatives and salesmen on the 
ground. 

It is useless to try to establish a trade with 
Spanish America unless agents or salesmen 
are sent out with samples. Circulars, catalogues 
and advertising matter seldom accomplish any 
direct results. Such material does not amount to 
much in this country and it means far less in Span- 
ish America. Advertising literature will often 
interest the people and will induce them to order 
articles which attract their attention and in this 
indirect way the catalogues may result in a de- 






78 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

mand for goods, but when sent directly to the for- 
eign merchant they accomplish little or nothing. If j 
your firm or factory is the only one producing cer- \ 
tain things, if you control some valuable patented 
or copyrighted article, unsolicited orders may now ) 
and then reach you from Spanish America, but 
these are exceptional cases. As long as salesmen 
must be employed it is a waste of time and money 
to select any but the best. To send out a man 
who does not speak Spanish (or Portuguese in f 
Brazil and French in Haiti) is as foolish as it 
would be for a foreign firm to send a salesman to 
America who did not speak English. In some : 
parts of Latin America a salesman who does not t 
speak any tongue but English may be able to get |i 
along after a fashion, but it is difficult work and 
such a man is woefully handicapped and an 
equally efficient man with the ability to speak the 
language would secure five times the business. 

If your business is too small to warrant send 
ing out salesmen the only thing to do is to give up I 
the idea of trade or else combine with some other 
small firm or firms and send out salesmen to act 
for the several firms jointly. This has often been 



WINNING CONFIDENCE 79 

done and successful results have been accom- 
plished by the method. 

Finally, if you ship machinery, engines, auto- 
mobiles or similar articles send a man along who 
understands them and can teach the natives how 
to operate, care for and repair the machines un- 
less there is already sonra one in the country who 
is familiar with them. Even at home manufac- 
turers expect to teach their customers how to use 
and look after the machines they sell, but these 
same manufacturers often ship disassembled ma- 
chines to Latin America accompanied, only by 
printed directions. That the consignees succeed 
under such circumstances speaks highly for their 
mechanical ingenuity. 

One of the greatest secrets of the success of 
Germans in Spanish America before the war was 
the competency and efficiency of their commercial 
agents. In Germany a man selected a career as a 
foreign commercial agent and trained for it as care- 
fully as if studying to be a doctor, lawyer or other 
professional man. He studied the business in 
schools, learned international law, languages of 
certain countries, business methods and similar 



80 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

matters. He was then employed or apprenticed 
by some old established firm with a large export 
trade and selected one particular country as his 
field and specialised for business in that country. 
In due time he was sent to the country he had 
chosen, prepared to remain there for life. His 
first efforts were thoroughly to master the lan- 
guage, literature, customs and laws of the country 
and the better to accomplish this he often married [ 
a native, built a home and became thoroughly 
identified with the civic and social life of the com- 
munity. As a result he became practically a 
native, although seldom a citizen, of his adopted ; 
country and soon was treated as such by the local 
business men. Such commercial agents have a 
tremendous advantage over our travelling sales- 
men even when the salesman has spent many years 
in the country or is native born, and until Ameri- 
can young men realise the opportunities which a 
career of this sort presents, we will be handi- , 
capped in our foreign trade relations. Herein is a 
wonderful chance for hundreds of young Ameri- 
cans who, under present conditions, grow up in a 
business office and are condemned to spend the 
greater part of their lives on a stool at a desk. If '. 



WINNING CONFIDENCE 81 

such young men will only apply themselves to a 
study of Spanish, specialise in the export trade 
and train themselves for the work they will have 
j little difficulty in finding employment and will 
| eventually be able to go abroad, grow up in some 
, other country and in time act as commercial agents 
| of the firms they represent. There are already 
! many young men fairly well equipped for business 
i careers in South America, many of them clerks in 
export or commission houses who have seen the 
possibilities and have acquired a knowledge which 
is bound to be of value in our relations with Span- 
ish America. 

Quite recently, when the National City Bank of 
New York announced its intention to open South 
America branches, scores of applications for posi- 
tions were received. Dozens of the applicants 
could read and write Spanish and many of them 
had a knowledge of French and German as well. 
Although but ten men were selected at first, yet 
officials of the bank stated that there would have 
been no difficulty in selecting 200 men who were 
equipped for the positions. 

There is no dearth of such men, but no matter 
how well they know the language, how thoroughly 



82 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

they understand business methods it is unwise to 
send our inexperienced, green men to secure trade 
in Latin America. If a firm desires to build up 
a business in the southern republics only the very 
best and most experienced salesmen and agents 
should be selected. They may cost more, for good 
men of this sort are not " cheap labour," but their 
knowledge and ability will bring in enough more 
orders to make up for the high salaries they de- p 
mand. It doesn't make a bit of difference 
whether they are Americans, Spanish Americans, 
Europeans, Christians or Hebrews as long as they 
have the knowledge, experience, adaptability and 
"push," and have "made good." Natives of 
Cuba, Porto Eico, Mexico, Spain and nearly every 
Spanish- American republic may be found among 
the army of successful salesmen. Many of these 
men have been educated and reared in the United 
States and are American citizens and naturally 
such men are able to get closely in touch with 
other Spanish Americans and to adapt themselves 
to native habits, customs and conditions. On the 
other hand there are scores of true Americans, 
dozens of Americans of European parentage and 
birth and unlimited numbers of Hebrews who are 



WINNING CONFIDENCE 83 

! just as competent, just as experienced and just as 
capable of representing your firm in Latin Amer- 
ica as are their fellows of Spanish blood. Eace, 
i politics or religion have no place in the selection 
j of salesmen or agents for this work ; it is a ques- 
, tion of efficiency, combined with diplomacy, and 
! upon the honesty, ability and competency of your 
| representatives your success or failure will in 
i great measure depend. 



CHAPTER VI 

GIVING THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT 
Unless you are prepared to give the Latin Amer- 
ican what he wants you might just as well aban- 
don all hopes of a successful Spanish- American , 
trade. His ideas may seem foolish to you, you 
may know that there is some article that is better j 
value, more convenient, or more up to date than 
what he orders, but that doesn't make any differ- 
ence; give him what he asks for, if you do not^ 
some one else will. 

A great fault with many salesmen and mer-h 
chants is that they try to dictate to their Latin--; 
American customers. Instead of letting the 
Spanish American order what he wants they try 
to induce him to buy what they want to sell. If 
your customer orders dress goods of a certain 
width don't try to sell him goods of a different 
width merely because that is the width you carry 
or make. There is probably some good reason 
for his demanding just that particular width of 
material; he knows the local market and you do 

84 



GIVING PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT 85 

inot; leave the matter to him. If you cannot fur- 
jnish the goods ready-made, have them made to 
order if the sales warrant it. If he asks for a cer- 
tain weight axe, certain sized tins or an unusual 
number of packages to a case, don't try to argue 
with him, but take his order as he gives it and see 
' that the order is followed out. The average 
American business man cannot see why substitu- 
tions should be objected to, provided the substi- 
tute is "just as good," but even if it's better it 
may not suit the South American or his local 
trade. Many American manufacturers have built 
up a tremendous Spanish- American trade merely 
by attending to these little items. Take for ex- 
ample the Gollinsville Cutlery Company: their 
axes, machetes and knives are found in every 
South and Central American country and in every 
West Indian island, they practically monopolise 
the trade in such goods, and why! Merely be- 
cause they make their tools and implements to 
suit the people instead of trying to make the peo- 
ple accept a certain stock pattern or grade of cut- 
lery. One island or republic may use and de- 
mand a certain size, weight and form of machete 
and their next door neighbours may prefer quite 



86 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

a different type ; there may be no apparent reason : 
for it and it may seem foolish, conservative and 
ridiculous in our eyes, but the Collinsville factory ■' 
makes the machetes according to the demand and 
as a result they get the trade. It's the same way 
with hundreds of other things; one locality may 
demand shoes of one colour of leather, one styles 
of last and one weight of sole and another locality 
within a few miles may demand shoes of a vera! 
different character. Hats which sell readily int 
the seaport may be unsaleable in the interior) 
towns and so with nearly every conceivable arti- 
cle used in Spanish America. 

English, French and some American fac- |i 
tories make goods especially for the Spanish- 
American trade. They have learned just the class ' 
of things the South American countries want and 
as such things have no sale elsewhere they pro-: 
duce them solely for export trade. If the mer- 
chants are in the habit of buying these articles!: 
they will be loth to purchase anything else; if yout 
wish to get the trade you must be prepared to: 
furnish these goods or have others exactly like* 
them made to order. 

This doesn't mean that Spanish Americans 



GIVING PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT 87 

! never adopt new things or are not open to convic- 
! tion. Oftentimes some articles, materials or pro- 
; visions which have never been introduced will 
I meet with a wonderful sale and thereafter be in 
J great demand. Sometimes the goods thus adopted 
I would at first sight seem utterly unfitted to the 
! people and the climate. Quaker Oats has a won- 
derful sale in the tropics ; I have seen long proces- 
sions of natives wending their way homeward 
from the markets to their little huts in the moun- 
I tains and each and every one with a box of Quaker' 
Oats on his or her head. The highest-priced and 
daintiest of canned goods and confections may 
often be found in rows upon rows in the tiniest 
1 of country stores in isolated interior villages. 
Why pate de fois gras, Maraschino cherries, truf- 
fles, devilled crabs, potted game and similar deli- 
cacies as well as Nabisco wafers and Lowney's 
chocolates should be sold in such out-of-the-way 
places and should be used by the almost penniless 
and woefully ignorant peons is a puzzle I have 
never solved, but if the goods were not in demand 
they would not be kept in stock. On one occasion 
I lived for several weeks in an almost unknown 
interior settlement where no American had ever 



88 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

before stopped and here I found the principal food 
of the natives, aside from the inevitable beans 
and codfish, was Puffed Kice! 

It is a good plan to try samples of unusual 
things in Spanish-American countries, especially 
in new territory. One never knows what may and 
what may not sell. Sometimes the most incon- 
gruous articles will leap into popular favour at 
a bound and frequently at a later visit the sales- I 
men will find such articles put to a use very differ- I 
ent from that for which they were intended. 
There is the old story of the man who shipped 
warming-pans to the West Indies. His friends 
suggested it as a practical joke, but it paved the [ 
way for a fortune. The warming-pans proved I 
just the things West Indians required for dipping 
molasses from the vats, and the ladles in universal f 
use to-day are merely improved warming pans j 
minus the lid ; in fact, in many of the more isolated 
mills the original warming pans are still in use. 
A number of years ago some enterprising Yankee j 
shipped a consignment of hat-racks to a small 
town in Mexico. The Mexicans had never seen 
hat-racks, but the consignee, thinking to advertise 
his wares, placed one or two of the racks outside \ 



GIVING PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT 89 

of his store. A horseman soon arrived and see- 
i ing the convenient piece of furniture threw his 
i bridle reins over the hooks, and from that time on 
: hat-racks were in demand as hitching-posts ! 

Even the ingenuity of the Spanish American 
or West Indian often fails to find a use for certain 
i things sent down to his country by northern mer- 
| chants ignorant of conditions. I shall always re- 
I member the amusement afforded by a certain 
West Indian merchant who had several pairs of 
| old-fashioned ice skates hanging outside his door- 
1 way. 

Wlien questioned in regard to them he explained 
that he had no knowledge of their use, but he had 
some vague idea that they were associated with 
the Christmas season in the North and annually 
hung them outside his store as an indication that 
his Christmas stock had arrived. 

Just as important as giving the people the 
goods they want is ihe matter of extending the 
credit they want. As already pointed out, credit 
is absolutely essential to the Spanish-American 
merchant in many cases. If your financial condi- 
tion will not warrant extending long credits, you 
must either give up Latin- American trade or con- 



90 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

fine your business to localities where such credit 
is not demanded. 

As for the actual risk you run in giving credit, 
there is practically none, at any rate not as much 
as in giving shorter credit to American firms. In 
many Spanish-American countries, especially in 
those that are more backward and have been less 
exploited, business is carried on very differently 
than in our country and financial operations are 
looked upon from a totally different point of ' 
view. 

The average Spanish or Spanish- American 
business man looks upon his reputation and credit : 
as his most precious possessions. If he becomes 
financially embarrassed his fellow merchants lend 
a helping hand and either advance him the neces- 
sary funds to put him on his feet or purchase his 
business and assume his obligations. They con- 
sider it a reflection on themselves to have one of 
their compatriots go into bankruptcy and use 
every effort to prevent it, and as a result failures 
of Latin-American business houses are very rare. 
How much better is this custom than our own ' 
method of piling suits and attachments on a strug- 



GIVING PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT 91 

gling competitor and "hitting him when he's 
down.'' 

In a great many of the Spanish American coun- 
tries these are large and firmly established banks, 
but in others modern banking systems have never 
been introduced. Even where there are banks 
they are often comparatively new and the people 
have not become accustomed to them and still 
prefer the more primitive methods of their ances- 
tors. Much of the Spanish- Americans ' business 
is done without contracts, notes or other papers; 
word-of-mouth and verbal promises being amply 
sufficient. So closely do Spanish-American mer- 
chants adhere to their word in business deals that 
one prominent New York merchant once said in 
speaking of Cuban credit: "I would rather have 
the word-of-mouth of a Cuban than the note-in- 
hand of most Americans." 

The simple honesty of many West Indians and 
South Americans is really incredible. The serv- 
ants may steal provisions, the peons may steal 
fruit, — to their eyes this is no sin. "God gave 
such things to all," they say; but to steal money 
or valuables, to rob a bank or a money drawer, to 



m HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

crack a safe or to deliberately set out to ''do" 1 
their fellows, is absolutely unheard of in many 
places and is far from common in any of the coun- 
tries. Certain localities and certain people are 
exceptions and, where there are large numbers 
of foreigners, thieves and other malefactors 
abound, but as a rule in the islands and countries 
which retain their native ways and customs, hon- 
esty is the rule rather than the exception. In 
Costa Eica the author has seen farmers wander- 
ing through the crowded market of San Jose with 
rolls of bills amounting to several hundred dollars 
held loosely in their hands. At times, in the ex- 
citement of bargaining* or the interest of gossip, 
these rolls are laid upon some handy counter or 
box and the owners wander about among their 
friends unmindful of their unguarded wealth, and 
seldom indeed is it found missing upon their re- 
turn. Many of the banks in South America and 
the West Indies are practically devoid of all safe- 
guards as we understand them. I have seen 
banks with counters piled with gold, silver and 
notes and left open and in the sole charge of a 
coloured porter while the cashier went to lunch. 
I have seen banks in which a ventilation opening, 



GIVING PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT 93 

over a foot in diameter, led directly to the interior 
and was only protected by a piece of wire netting 
or a light wooden grating, and in scores of banks 
the safe is an old, flimsy, iron affair that any one 
could open with a hammer and cold chisel, and yet 
these banks have never been robbed. 

On one occasion the author was standing in a 
bank in one of the "West Indian islands and a sud- 
den gust of wind carried a pile of $5 notes through 
the open window and scattered them far and near 
in the streets, yards and alleys of the vicinity. 
The porter went forth and gathered up a goodly 
portion of the currency, but still several hundred 
dollars were missing. The cashier and director 
appeared little worried or disturbed and to ques- 
tions replied that, "Most of the notes will be 
picked up and returned,' ' and sure enough, for 
several days thereafter barefooted, ragged na- 
tives — men and women who toiled all day in the 
broiling sun for the miserly sum of a shilling — 
found bedraggled notes in the streets and brought 
them to the bank, and this without hope of reward 
or even thanks ; the notes were not theirs, so why 
should they keep them! 

The same sublime confidence in others ' honesty, 






94* HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

the same inborn integrity on the part of the peo- - 
pie, exists in many Spanish- American countries, 
regardless of the increase of crimes with the. 
growth of the cities and their intercourse with the 
outside world. To them a business man who does 
not fulfil his obligations, a man who demands an 
agreement in writing or a merchant who will burn . 
his store for the sake of the insurance it carries, is; 
an abnormal, impossible creature. Once when in 
Central America the author witnessed an example 
of the unsophisticated, sublime confidence of the: 
people in their fellow-men. A large general store i 
was burned under very suspicious circumstances 
and the agent for the insurance company refused 
to pay until after a thorough investigation was 
made. This implied suspicion aroused the peo- 
ple to such an extent that they threatened the poor 
insurance agent with personal violence unless the 
insurance was paid and he was obliged to comply. 
That any man would deliberately burn his own 
property was utterly incomprehensible to them.;; 
"What, burn his own store, deprive himself of a; 
business, compel his old customers to trade else- 
where! Nonsense, such an act is impossible," 
was the universal argument. Of course in many 



GIVING PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT 95 

places such conditions have changed within a few 
years and in certain localities petty thefts, sneak 
thieves, etc., are all too prevalent, but as a rule 
such crimes are the work of the worst type of 
blacks from Jamaica, Barbados, etc., or are com- 
mitted by discharged or dissatisfied servants or 
employes in a spirit of revenge. 

Moreover, in most Spanish- American countries 
the punishment for crimes of any sort is very se- 
vere, and this fact no doubt deters many unscrup- 
ulous natives from giving way to temptation. If 
a man realises that he may get six months at hard 
labour for stealing a few cents ' worth of property 
or may be fined several hundred dollars and im- 
prisoned for a crooked business deal, he isn't apt 
to take the risk. 

As far as a Spanish- American business man's 
standing is concerned, there is no more trouble 
in finding this out than in determining the stand- 
ing of an American merchant. Dun's and Brad- 
street's cover practically every Latin- American 
country and the West Indies and if you trust to 
such sources you can readily ascertain their ideas 
on the financial responsibility of your Latin- 
American customers. A great deal more infor- 



96 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

mation may be obtained by your representatives 
on the ground, however, and to him you must trust 
largely as to the advisability of extending credit. 
It cannot be disputed that there are dishonest men 
among Spanish- American merchants as among all 
other races. Modern communication and inter- 
course has made the whole world kin in business 
as in other walks of life, but as a rule the risk is 
small and in the end you will lose less by extend- 
ing credit than by refusing it. 

Make allowances for the customs, manners and 
exigencies of the people, treat them as you would 
have them treat you, let them see that you trust 
them and rely on their honour and you will not 
regret it. 






CHAPTER VII 

ORGANISATION 

Few merchants would undertake to start a branch, 
house in another city or to sell goods in another 
State unless they were sure of the ground. They 
would look up the population, the local debt and 
wealth, the number of competitors in their line, 
the prevailing wages of labour, the banking facili- 
ties, the goods in demand and innumerable other 
details which might or might not have a bearing 
on the business they had in view. If this is neces- 
sary in our own country, how much more essential 
must it be when undertaking to establish a busi- 
I ness in a country several thousand miles away 
and where absolutely foreign customs, manners 
and language prevail. 

Nevertheless, many American business men 
start out to establish a trade with Spanish Amer- 
ica without the least knowledge of the country or 
people and without making any of the enquiries 
or detailed investigations which they would con- 

97 



98 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

sider absolutely necessary when dealing with their ' 
own countrymen. 

The very first thing to do, if you intend estab-i 
lishing branches in Spanish America or expect to ii 
build up a profitable Latin- American trade, is to ' 
look over the ground. If possible attend to this 
matter personally; no one else can make you see]! 
and understand things as well as you can observe ! i 
and master details yourself. If you cannot at- J | 
tend to this matter personally, select the very best 
man you can find for your representative, for upon 
his judgment, experience and business ability l 
your future success will depend. Look up every - 
item within reach regarding the countries in which - 
you are interested ; call on their consuls — you will j 
find them more than anxious to give you all the ] 
information they possess — write to the Pan- '■ 
American Union at Washington for facts and ! 
data, read all the books written on the countries 
and when possible talk with some one who has been 
there and who is not prejudiced or biased by race, 
religion or other matters. 

We hear a great deal about trade with South 
America, but it must be borne in mind that there 
is a vast difference in the opportunities afforded 



ORGANISATION 99 

, by the various republics. We are prone to speak 
of South America, Spanish America or Latin 
America as if it was one great homogeneous coun- 
try with the same climate, conditions and pe- 
culiarities throughout. Many of us are accus- 
tomed to think of South America or Spanish 
America as a tropical land of vast forests, dense 
J jungles and uncivilised conditions. We cannot 
jjudge one part of South America by another any 
ibetter than we can judge one part of North Amer- 
ica by another; the climate, conditions and pe- 
culiarities of the various South and Central Amer- 
ican countries are as different as the various 
I countries of Europe, and even in one republic we 
|may find every gradation of climate from the tor- 
|rid to the frigid with corresponding peculiarities 
iin customs, dress and habits of the inhabitants. 
A great deal of Spanish America does lie in the 
tropics, but a very large portion of it is in the 
temperate zone and is far from tropical. Certain 
sections are covered with forests and jungles, vast 
areas are thinly settled and only partly civilised; 
but on the other hand there are enormous bar- 
ren areas, stupendous mountains, immeasurable 
plains and wide prairies. Many Spanish-Ameri- 



100 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

can countries are as well settled and as civilised ■ 
as our own land and such cities as Buenos Aires, f 
Rio Janeiro, etc., would put most of our largest r 
cities to shame. • 

It is obvious that under such conditions there ,- 
must be far more competition in some places than 
in others, that methods which would prove sue- L 
cessful in one section would be of no avail in an- L 
other and that goods which would be in demand in j 
one locality might not be saleable in a different 
section. L 

It is just as impossible to state that such-and- - 
such conditions prevail in " South America," that j 
such-and-such business methods are in vogue in ; < 
"Spanish America" or that a certain class of 
goods are in demand in "Latin America" as to 
make the same statement in regard to North j 
America, Europe, Africa or Asia. We would not u 
expect to sell fur overcoats in New Orleans or St. 
Augustine, nor white linen suits and straw hats in | 
Nome or Sitka, and yet many Americans seem to 
think that the same goods they would ship to 
Costa Rica or Venezuela would do equally well in 
Argentine or Patagonia. 

In the larger, more prosperous and more ad- 



ORGANISATION 101 

vanced countries there is naturally more business, 
i more wealth and larger markets, but these coun- 
tries are already financed and exploited to the last 
cent, as a rule, and competition in every line is as 
keen as in our own great cities. 

Brazil, the Argentine, Chile, are great, teem- 
ing, prosperous countries — world-powers one 
might say — and while there are great opportuni- 
ties for exploitation and commerce in the interiors 
! of these countries, such undertakings, to be suc- 
cessful, must be carried on with immense capital 
and on a tremendous scale in keeping with the 
character, extent and wealth of the countries. 
Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia and 
Central America all afford splendid fields for 
American trade and the less known and less in the 
public eye these countries are, the better are the 
chances of success for new undertakings. The 
American business man should not expect to cover 
all, or even a portion, of the Spanish- American 
republics with his trade. Such an attempt must 
meet with failure unless backed by almost unlim- 
ited capital and a vast organisation. Certain 
great companies or trusts can accomplish such 
things, but not the small or independent firm or 



102 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

manufacturer. Even in countries where every 
want seems to be filled, where everything seems to 
be furnished, there are often great opportunities 
to the man with discrimination, good judgment, 
quick perception and business ability. One great 
fault with many Spanish-American countries is 
the lack of variety in the stock carried by the mer- 
chants. One may visit a score of the leading 
stores and find identically the same goods in each. 
You may wish goods of a little different style, 
colour or class, but it will be impossible to find 
them; every merchant carries the same goods and r 
if you visit one you have practically visited all. 
This peculiar condition has been brought about by 
various causes. In the first place natural con- 
servatism and tradition have led the people to 
use a certain line of articles which have thus be- 
come gradually standardised; in the second place 
many of the goods are manufactured especially- 
for the export trade to the country and hence- 
everything that goes there is the same; a third 
reason is that salesmen have found it easier to 
repeat orders for certain goods for the various 
merchants rather than to order several different 
styles, qualities, or kinds ; and, finally, each mer- 



ORGANISATION 103 

chant is so afraid that his competitor will have 
something that he does not carry that they all 
order exactly the same things. 

Speaking of this very matter, a prominent and 
experienced representative of one of onr largest 
exporters remarked: "If I want to sell a bill of 
goods to one merchant all I have to say is that 
Don So-and-so has placed an order for a certain 
amount of the goods and invariably he will place 
an order of the same amonnt for identical goods. ' ' 

This state of affairs offers an opportunity in 

j two ways; in the first place a competent, trusted 

and well-received salesman can induce one or more 

merchants to order a new line of goods and if one 

does this the others will follow suit, thus affording 

j a second opportunity of securing the trade. 

Comparatively few Spanish- American coun- 
tries are provided with five- and ten-cent stores, 
and yet in many of the West Indies and South 
American republics the majority of the people are 
obliged to purchase the most inexpensive of goods 
and would welcome a five- and ten-cent store with 
open arms. The objection might be raised that 
the same goods which are sold in the United States 
for five and ten cents could not be shipped to 



104 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

South America and sold for the same prices at j 
profit. This may be quite true with certain things 
and under existing conditions, but certainly there \ 
is an enormous variety of articles which sell for | 
five cents or two for five cents or less in this coun- 
try which the South Americans and West Indians j, 
would buy readily for ten cents. Moreover, if a 
demand was created our factories could turn out 
a line of ten-cent goods especially for the South 
American and West Indian trade. There are still 
other opportunities in the disposal of old and out- 
of-date stock. Many of our old goods now find 
their way to South American markets, but there is 
plenty of room for more and I doubt if any one has 
ever taken this matter up and made a specialty of 
it — purchasing old stock, obsolete styles and out- 
of-date goods to be resold in certain sections of 
Latin America and the West Indies. In a great 
many of those countries the people demand the 
latest designs and styles, especially in clothes, and 
in many of the South and Central American cities 
the latest Parisian styles are seen in daily use 
long before they appear in New York, but this is I 
true only of the wealthier and better class of peo- t 
pie; there are immense numbers of inhabitants 



ORGANISATION 105 

: who would be just as willing to purchase old styles 
iand designs provided they answered their pur- 
pose and were cheap. By ' ' cheap ' ' I do not mean 
shoddy or of poor quality, however, for the West 
Indian or Spanish American wants value for his 
hard-earned money every time. In most cases he 
would much prefer to go without an article rather 
than purchase a really inferior one. 

In many places the commonest and most widely 
used articles have been overlooked somehow or 
other and the salesman who can discover such 
oversights on the part of his predecessors and 
who introduces the much-needed articles will reap 
a rich harvest. A few years ago the author was 
in a locality where our cheap dollar and two-dol- 
lar watches had never been introduced. A friend 
who was a leading importer and merchant in the 
country saw and appreciated the value of such a 
watch in the author's possession; he obtained the 
address of the manufacturers and as a result se- 
cured a very lucrative trade which might have 
been secured by any travelling salesman wide- 
awake enough to have seen the opening. Numer- 
ous cases of this sort have come under my per- 
sonal notice and while many of these opportunities 



106 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

have since been grasped by both American and; 
European firms, jet plenty of them remain to be, 
discovered by commercial explorers. 

There are just two ways of selling goods in 1 
Spanish America; either find the market that de- 
mands what you can furnish or find the goods 
which the markets demand. 

Organisation is another very important factor 
in carrying on a trade with Spanish America and! 
it is through their splendidly organised systems 
that our great manufacturers have gained control 
of many Spanish-American markets. For exam- 
ple, take the Singer Sewing Machine Company; 
their machines are to be found in daily use by 
thousands of people throughout Mexico, South! 
and Central America and the West Indies, in even 
the most remote districts. Their name is a 
household word throughout Spanish America and 
they have practically wiped out competition. 

Their work is carried out with military precis- 
ion and their organisation is marvellous in its' 
completeness and perfection. Before a branch or! 
a general agency is established a representative ; 
looks over the ground; he finds out the population, 
the average wages, the condition of the finances,! 



ORGANISATION 107 

the cost of freight, transportation, and every 
other incidental expense ; the rental of offices, the 
cost of help and leaves nothing to guess work or 
hearsay. From his data he estimates the num- 
ber of machines that should be sold, the cost of 
selling, the cost of maintaining the office and help 
and the profits that should accrue. If his figures 
warrant it the agency is established and a compe- 
tent manager put in charge. If the sales fall 
short of the estimate, if the profits do not work 
out correctly, or if in any way the "scheme" does 
not tally with results a satisfactory explanation 
must be made. 

Of course the men selected to represent such 
firms, to look over the ground, to make the esti- 
mates and to carry on the work must be the most 
competent, efficient and trustworthy to be ob- 
tained. They must have had a long experience 
in the countries they are to cover, must be adapt- 
able, tireless, familiar with the customs, manners 
and business of the country, must have the details 
of the business at their fingers' tips, must be mas- 
ters of the language of the country and must be 
expert accountants, keen business men, diplomats 
and gentlemen in addition. Such men naturally 






108 HOW WE MAY SUCCEED 

command enormous salaries and tremendous ex 
pense accounts, but they are worth it; the best are : 
none too good for such positions. 

Few firms or manufacturers can afford, or re- 
quire, such an organisation, but even in a small 
business the undertaking should be carried out 
with the same attention to details, the same fa- 
miliarity with conditions and prospects and the 
same care in selecting the proper men. The 
Spanish-American trade has great possibilities, 
wonderful opportunities and enormous profits, but 
it is no '< get-rich-quick" scheme. When we sell 
to South Americans we are not trading coloured 
beads and calico with half -naked savages, as many 
seem to think. We are dealing with people as 
shrewd, keen and familiar with the world's mar- 
kets as ourselves. Under stress of circumstances 
we may succeed for a time, even with slack, half- 
hearted methods, but unless our Spanish-Ameri- 
can trade is firmly and immovably established on 
a solid foundation of honesty, friendship and reci- 
procity it will not endure. Sooner or later the 
European nations will be at peace and will regain 
the trade and prestige they have lost. The South 
Americans are ready and waiting for us, they 



ORGANISATION 109 

have goods to sell to us and we have goods to sell 
! to them. The Panama Canal will cnt the freight 
j rates tremendously in many cases, and the Span- 
i ish Americans realise what this means to them as 
| well as to us. They are willing to do their part, 
j but they are not going to sacrifice themselves or 
1 their prosperity for our sakes. We have an op- 
portunity to prove our sincerity, to prove we want 
the trade and good-will of the vast continent to 
the south. Let us stretch our hands across the 
Canal and grasp those of our southern neighbours 
in true friendship; forgetting all differences and 
uniting all the peoples of the New World in an 
inseparable bond of true Americanism. 



PAET III 
FACTS AND FIGURES 



:f 



- 



- 



CHAPTER Vin 

THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 

Isr the following pages the various Latin-Amer- 
ican republics will be found alphabetically ar- 
ranged and with various interesting and valuable 
trade and business statistics under each. As cer- 
tain data could not be obtained in regard to some 

| of the countries there will be found far more in- 
formation in regard to certain republics than in 
regard to others, but in every case all available 
information has been included. 
The lists of articles imported and exported are 

! not intended to cover every object, for this would 
be a task far beyond the scope of the present 
work. The articles enumerated are those form- 
ing the bulk of the exports and imports, however, 
and will serve as a guide to what the countries 
buy and sell. 

In some instances very detailed information has 
been obtainable in regard to shipping, finances, 
banks, railways, etc., and wherever this occurred 
the data has been included. In other cases infor- 

113 



114 FACTS AND FIGURES 

mation regarding such matters is so meagre or so 
approximate that it has been excluded. The in- 
formation regarding oceanic transportation to the 
various republics is intended to give a general 
idea of the facilities of transportation, but it is 
necessarily incomplete owing to the present dis- 
turbed schedules of various steamship lines due 
to the European war as well as to the fact that 
many of the countries are only reached by lines 
whose steamers sail at irregular intervals, accord- 
ing to the cargoes offered. The transportation 
to most of the Latin- American countries is fairly 
good. To many places regular lines of large 
steamships run at regular intervals according to 
schedule, while numerous other lines, tramps, 
fruiters or tourist ships sail intermittently. 
Nearly every important port may be reached by 
direct ships from New York, Boston, Philadelphia, 
New Orleans or San Francisco or by lines con- 
necting at Panama, Colon, Cuba, Porto Eico, or 
other large ports. As a rule little dependence can 
be placed on the scheduled time of passage to the 
Latin-American ports. In many cases various 
stops are made at intermediate ports and unex- 
pected delays in docking or unloading occur. On 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 115 

! 

'the other hand, stress of weather or other condi- 
itions render such stops impossible and as a result 
I the ships arrive at their ultimate destination 
ahead of time. 

The information in regard to transportation, 
while far from complete, will, it is thought, serve 
as a valuable guide to intending travellers or ship- 
pers and further information may be obtained 
from the various consular offices or from the 
steamship lines. 



ARGENTINE REPUBLIC 

Population. 7,885,237. 

Capital. Buenos Aires, with population of 1,700,000. 

Language. Spanish. 

Currency. Gold peso = $0,965 U. S.; paper peso=S 
$0.4246 U. S. 

Weights and Measures. Metric system. 

Postage. Postal Union rates. No parcels post. 

Area. 1,112,684 sq. miles. [ 

Comparative Area. Equal to all of United States east of ^ 
Mississippi River, plus the first tier of States west ' 
of it. Six times the area of Spain, Germany or) 
France. Ten times the area of Great Britain or Italy. I 

Total Comment, 1917, $837,924,034, 



Principal Exports and Their Value 

(For year 1917) 

Animal industry $352,933,859 

Agricultural products 139,826,347 

Lumber and timber 27,124,147 

Other products 11,489,561 

Total • • • • $530,914,097 



116 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 117 

Principal Imports and Value 
(1917) 

I Live animals $ 2,361,360 

|Food products 60,189,904 

! Tobacco and products 8,176,942 

JBeverages 8,303,550 

; Textile fabrics 81,592,744 

lOils 20,980,586 

; Drugs and chemicals 19,016,965 

i Colors and dyes 3,688,567 

Lumber and timber 16,060,954 

Paper and products 12,703,096 

Leather manufactures 3,105,094 

Iron and steel 40,438,514 

Other metal products 18,423,508 

Agricultural products and ma- 
chinery 11,334,622 

Stones, clay products, pottery 

and glassware 28,475,163 

Electrical apparatus 8,258,044 

All other 13,118,451 



Total : $367,019,937 



Total commerce $897,924,Q34 

Foreign Commerce by Countries 

(Year of 1917) 

Country Imports Exports 

Austria $ 9,453 

Belgium 92,675 



118 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Country Imports Exports 

Brazil $ 36,540,985 $ 22,021,772! 

British Possessions 465,910 3,019,314 

Chile 3,601,596. 4,212,216 

Cuba 2,590,445 

France 21,811,554 70,029,308 

Germany 284,342 

Italy 25,421,356 27,883,227 

Japan 3,203,081 2,036,725 

Mexico 5,880,421 

Netherlands 2,187,534 5,087,677! 

Paraguay 5,031,341 3,242,774 

Spain 26,530,672 8,814,880 

United Kingdom 80,080,122 155,217,373 

United States 135,251,949 155,626,288 

All other 3,660,720 1,016,615 



$367,009,937 $530,914,197 
In 1914 „„„„,„■, 271,818,000 349,254,000 

Miles of Railway in Operation 

There were in operation in 1918 over 22,000 miles of 
railway. Buenos Aires is the leading railroad center, 
but Rosario and Santa Fe are also important. Argen- 
tine ranks ninth among all countries in railway mileage. 

Ocean Shipping, 1916 

No. of vessels Tonnage 

Sailing ships with cargo 268 385,211 

Steamships with cargo. 1,688 4,059,975 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 119 

Ocean Transportation 

From New York. 

Lamport & Holt Line, twice monthly to Buenos Aires 
via Brazil, Montevideo, etc., with cargo, passengers and 
mail. Passage to Buenos Aires about 25 days. 

Brazil Line, semi-monthly to Buenos Aires and Rosario 
via Brazilian ports. 

Time of passage from New York to Buenos Aires, 23 
days, 



BOLIVIA 

Population. 2,840,000. 

Capital. La Paz, with population of 80,000. 

Language. Spanish. 

Currency. Boliviano of 100 centavos = $0,389 U. S. 

Weights and Measures. Metric system standard, Span- 
ish "Vara"=32.91 inches, Spanish "Arroba "=25.36 
pounds. 

Postage. Postal Union rates. Parcels post. 

Area. 708,195 sq. miles. 

Comparative Area. Nearly three times the size of Texas. 
Six times as large as the combined area of New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. 

Total Commerce, 1916. 

Imports and Exports, 1916 
Exports. $33,017,691. 
Imports. $7,676,162. 

Principal Articles Exported 

Antimony $ 4,316,050 

Bismuth 1,071,125 

Copper 3,820,821 

Tin 19,268,862 

Eailwats 
According to the latest data there are at present 840 
miles of railway lines in exploitation and 350 under 
construction. 

120 



AME 

ERNPj 

STATUTEMILf 
t)F KILOMETERS 

shown in heat 






THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 121 

As Bolivia has no sea-coast, the capital, La Paz, is 
reached by steamer to Peru and thence by rail and across 
Lake Titicaca by steamer, the trip from the Pacific Coast 
to La Paz occupying 48 hours. 

Oceanic Transportation 

From New York. 

Pacific Steam Navigation Co. via Panama; Merchants' 
Line via Sts. of Magellan; West Coast Line via Sts. of 
Magellan. 
From Panama. 

Compania Sud Americana De Vapores. 

Time of passage from New York to Cobija via Panama, 
37 days. 



BRAZIL 

Population. 26,500,000. 

Capital. Rio de Janeiro, with population of about 
1,000,000. 

Language. Portuguese. 

Currency. Gold, Milreis of 1000 Reis = $0,546 U. S. 
Actual currency is paper, value of which is about 
$0.3244 U. S. A " Contos" = 1,000 Milreis. 

Weights and Measures. Metric as standard. Portu- 
guese ' ' Libra ' '= 1.012 pounds ; Portuguese * l Arroba ' ' 
= 32.38 pounds. 

Postage. Postal Union rates. Parcels post. 

Area. 3,273,000 square miles. . 

Comparative Area. About the size of Canada without 
Labrador. About the size of Australasia and Oceania. 
Larger than all Russia in Europe. As large as all of 
United States except Alaska and with four times the 
area of New York State in addition. 

Total Commerce for 1917, $507,990,000. 

Imports and Exports 
(Year of 1917) 

VALUES IN U. S. CURRENCY 

Total value of commerce $507,990,000 

Total value of exports 291,382,000 

Total value of imports 216,608,000 



122 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 123 

Commerce by Various Countries 

(1916) 

Country Imports Exports 

United States $ 76,238,664 $124,897,986 

Great Britain 39,667,499 31,062,507 

Germany 86,186 

France 10,117,764 42,810,577 

Argentine 27,364,520 16,125,837 

Portugal 9,049,044 1,500,166 

Belgium 277,735 

Italy 6,792,656 16,344,577 

Austria-Hungary 1,510 1,510 

Uruguay 2,894,720 2,894,720 

Switzerland 2,469,489 

India 3,155,973 

Newfoundland 3,355,192 

Spain 2,261,232 2,185,560 

Norway 1,984,393 

Netherlands 1,159,488 

Sweden 2,525,821 

Canada 1,320,891 

Denmark 1,102,938 

Mexico 1,255,576 



Total $194,582,153 $265,801,811 



124 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Principal Articles of Import, 1916 

Ammunition $ 1,386,779 

Firearms 719,715 

Asphalt 56,737 

Belting 509,638 

Bicycles 35,816 

Boot blacking 55,333 

Breadstuffs exclusive of wheat 142,861 

Breadstuffs, wheat 21,448,518 

Breadstuffs, wheat flour 8,797,685 

Cement 4,327,307 

Cotton manufactures: 

Piece goods, bleached 821,881 

Unbleached 156,002 

Dyed 1,951,120 

Printed 318,259 

Others 5,442,415 

Washed cotton 3,277,702 

Coal 18,651,927 

Patent fuel 1,193,451 

Clocks 67,927 

Watches 58,815 

Chemicals and Drugs: 

Calcium carbide 84,234 

Caustic soda 1,536,734 

Pharmaceutical goods *• 6,260,461 

Cars, Carriages, Etc.: 

Railway cars 57,026 

Axles and wheels for cars 431,940 

Locomotives 904,088 

Rails, etc 608,547 

Motor cars 447,351 

Motor car accessories 152,175 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 125 

Dynamite and explosives $ 348,178 

Electric Supplies: 

Machinery 1,126,311 

Lamps 311,838 

Motors 123,465 

Fish: 

Codfish 5,084,661 

Preserved, extracts, etc 849,813 

Fruits : 

Dried 348,223 

Fresh 238,624 

Preserved 16,231 

Glassware : 

Bottles 141,943 

Window panes 728,551 

Hats 145,090 

Inks: 

Printing 114,518 

Writing 28,862 

Instruments : 

Dental 200,807 

Optical 72,153 

Surgical 157,793 

Other 99,701 

Iron and Steel: 

Cutlery 444,277 

Iron plates 535,459 

Galvanized, corrugated 631,049 

Furniture 48,174 

Tubes, pipes 1,245,377 

Motors and stationary engines 214,369 

Machinery : 

Agricultural 163,273 



126 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Industrial $ 757,803 

Other 1,601,537 

Iron and Steel Manufactures: 

Nails, screws, etc 288,541 

Scales 63,792 

Steel rods and bars 838,701 

Stills, boilers, etc 66,514 

Tubes, pipes and fittings 1,245,377 

Typewriters 207,512 

Posts and bridges 125,385 

Leather Goods: 

Boots and shoes 141,267 

Sole leather 2,774 

Skins and hides 4,951,587 

Other leather mfs 283,637 

Lighting apparatus 98,960 

Meats and Products: 

Bacon 18,845 

Hams 319,423 

Lard 27,469 

Butter 69,578 

Milk, condensed 787,472 

MiUs 34,318 

Musical Goods: 

Phonographs and records 62,156 

Pianos 137,476 

Oils: 

Gasoline 2,615,364 

Kerosene 5,777,681 

Lubricants 1,834,757 

Paper and Manufactures : 

Card and millboard. 455,092 

Playing cards 8,177 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 127 



Printing paper $ 4,181,707 

Stationery 1,585,106 

Writing 320,219 

Photographic supplies 184,232 

I Presses 18,903 

Pumps 90,631 

i Pipe, lead 18,466 

: Perfumes, dyes, etc 869,152 

! Paints, prepared 529,276 

! Rosin 1,790,615 

i Rubber manufactures 535,332 

Soap, unscented 142,291 

Starch 116,095 

Salt 752,181 

Tin plate in sheets 2,492,172 

Tinware 37,801 

Tools 1,420,190 

Type 23,212 

Tobacco (leaf) 474,854 

Varnishes 159,883 

Vegetables : 

Dried 40,301 

Preserved and extracts 295,584 

Wire: 

Barbed 1,494,347 

Other 1,793,784 

Wearing apparel, cotton 425,466 

Wood and Manufactures: 

Furniture 62,678 

Pine blocks and boards 179,946 

Staves and hoops 66,974 

Rough, sawed, planed, etc 24,723 



128 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Transportation 

Railways in operation at close of year 1917, 14 596 
miles. 

In 1917 contracts were closed for the completion of 
the Tocantins railroad, near the coast. 

Steamship Service 
From New York. 

Lamport and Holt Co. fortnightly for cargo, passen- ] 
gers and mails to Bahia, Rio, Santos, etc. 

Prince Line, to principal ports. 

Brazil Line, semi-monthly to principal ports. 

Booth Line, thrice monthly to principal ports. 
From Mobile. 

Monson Line to Buenos Aires via Brazil. 

Time of Passage from New York. To Bahia, 14 days ; 
to Maceio, 17 days; to Maranhao, 16 days; to Para 12 
days; to Pernambuco, 16 days; to Santos, 19 days'; to = 
Rio, 17 days. 






CHILE 

Population. 3,870,000. 

Capital. Santiago, with a population of 400,000. 

{Language. Spanish. 

[Currency. Gold Peso of 100 Centavos = $0,365 U. S. 
Actual currency is paper that averages $0.22 to the 
peso. 

\Weights and Measures. Metric, standard. Spanish 
"Vara"= 32.91 inches. Spanish " Quintal "= 101.41 
pounds. 

Wostage. Postal Union rates. Parcels post. 

\Area. 292,341 square miles. 

Comparative Area. About four times the size of Ne- 
braska. Would cover our western coast from San 
Diego, Cal., to middle Alaska with the width of Cali- 
fornia. 

Total Commerce, 1917, $389,588,610. 

Principal Exports and Value 
(For year 1916) 
Values in Chilean pesos of 18d. = $0.36 U. S. 
Animals and animal products. . . 36,275,511 

Agricultural products 16,394,608 

Mineral products: 

Nitrate of soda 358,613,780 

Metallic minerals 86,791,265 

Non-metallic minerals 816,307 

Manufacturing industries 2,251,945 

Chemical products 398,250 

129 



130 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Forest products 1,189,389 

Business and surplus 927,483 



Total 505,962,916 

Principal Imports and Value 
(Year of 1916) 

Animals and products $ 5,021,299 

Agricultural products 15,277,143 

Mineral products 27,059,755 

Food products 58,577,916 

Lumber products 17,486,856 

Paper, etc 1,596,799 

Wines and liquors 2,850,120 

Chemicals 27,756,963 

Machinery 13,863,822 

Metals 20,330,974 

Other goods 22,434,778 



Total 222,520,828 



Total commerce, pesos 736,105,572 

$268,678,534 

Exports by Countries 
(1916) 
Country 

Great Britain $ 48,146,599 

Germany 

United States 92,033,567 

France 14,088,499 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 131 

| Peru 442,076 

| Argentine 4,491,903 

I Belgium 

I Holland 2,415,233 

Total value $187,458,432 

| 

Principal Banks of Chile 

j Values in Chilean Pesos (of 18d.= $0.36 U. S.) ; or in 
pounds sterling or francs as designated, Year of 1912. 

; BANKS WITH CAPITAL OF MORE THAN FIVE MILLION PESOS 

Chile. Santiago. 

National. A. Edwards & Co. 

Spanish Bank of Chile. Talca. 

Italian. 

With paid up capital of 126,000,000 pesos. 

BANKS OF LESS THAN FIVE MILLION PESOS CAPITAL 

Concepcion. Commercial Union. 

Curico. Tacna. 

Commercial Curico Mercantile Tacna. 

Punta Arenas. Osorno & La Union. 

Magallanes. Mulchen. 

Nuble. Constitution. 

Llanquihue. Arauco. 
Popular. 

With paid up capital of 14,142,702 pesos in currency 
and 1,000,000 pesos in gold. 

FOREIGN BANKS 

Anglo-South American. Bolivian Mercantile. 

London and River Plate. 



132 FACTS AND FIGURES 

With a paid up capital of 15,514,833 pesos currency 
and 8,267,973 pesos in gold. 



SAVINGS BANKS 

There are over 100 savings banks with deposits total- 
ling over 50,000,000 pesos gold. 



Money and Exchange 

The monetary system of Chile is based on the gold dol- 
lar or peso of 0,519,103 grammes of x %2 &n- e or 18d., but 
the current money in circulation is mainly paper money 
issued by the government in lieu of gold. The value of 
this paper currency fluctuates but the government an- 
nually allots a certain sum for the increase of a fund for 
the redemption of all paper money at present in circula- 
tion, the redemption to take place in 1915. Paper cur- 
rency is divided into 100 cts. to the dollar. 

At Exchange of lOd. a Chilean peso equals $0.20 U. S. 
gold. 

At Exchange of 18d. $1.00 U. S. gold = $2.77 Chil- 
ean. 

At Exchange of 18d. one pound sterling = $13.13 
Chilean. 

At Exchange of lOd. one pound sterling = $24.00 
Chilean. 

Railways in Operation — Figures in Kilometres 
(1912) 

Total kilometres in operation, 1915 8,216 

State owned completed lines 5,122 

Private owned completed lines _._... 3,094 



I 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 133 

NEW RAILWAYS RECENTLY COMPLETED 

Arica-La Paz, length 439 kilometres, cost £2,750,000. 

Two sections of Longitudinal Railway; length, north 
section, 719 kilometres; length, south section, 596 kilo- 
metres; cost £10,555,750. 

RAILWAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION 

Antuco from Monte Aguila station through Laja Val- 
ley to Antuco Pass. 

San Martin Transandine Railway from General Cruz 
station eastward to Rinihue and Pirehueico Lakes across 
the Andes to Huahan Pass. 

Oceanic Transportation Lines 

From New York. 

West Coast Line. Monthly cargo service between New 
York and South Pacific ports. 

Merchants' Line. Monthly service between New York 
and South Pacific ports. 
From Panama. 

Pacific Steam Navigation Co. Fortnightly for pas- 
sengers and cargo from Panama to Valparaiso. 

Compania Sud- Americana de Vapores (Chilean). 
Weekly passenger and cargo service between Panama 
and Valparaiso. Weekly service between Valparaiso 
and Callao in combination with Pacific Steam Naviga- 
tion Co. from Callao to Panama. 
From Europe. 

Lamport and Holt Line. Liverpool, Glasgow and 
Havre. 

Toyo Kisen Kaisha. Hongkong. 



134 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Gulf Line. Glasgow. 

Pacific Steam Navigation Co. Liverpool. 

Time of passage from New York to Caldera via Pan- 
ama, 32 days; to Coquimbo via Panama, 21 days; to 
Iquiqui via Panama, 20 days ; to Valparaiso via Panama, 
23 days, 






COLOMBIA, UNITED STATES OF 

Population. 5,072,104. 

Capital. Bogota, with a population of 150,000. 

Language. Spanish. 

Currency. Gold Dollar == $1.00 U. S. 

Weights and Measures. Metric; standard. Old Span- 
ish "Vara"= 33.38 inches. Old Spanish " Libra "= 
1.014 pounds. Old Spanish "Arroba"= 25.36 pounds. 

Postage. Postal Union rates. Parcels post. Parcels 
cannot exceed 2 feet in length or 4 feet in girth. 

Area. 438,436 square miles. 

Comparative Area. About equal to aggregate area of 
Germany, France, Holland and Belgium. 

Total Commerce, 191Q. $60,576,806, 

Exports and Imports 
(1916) 

FOREIGN COMMERCE BY COUNTRIES 

Country Imports Exports 

1916 1915 

Great Britain $ 4,856,606 $ 3,692,207 

United States 13,438,717 21,945,602 

Germany 

France 889,818 253,986 

Spain 947,081 419,885 

Italy 431,377 236,269 

Other countries 519,781 258,349 



Total $24,083,339 $28,680,772 

135 



136 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Principal articles of import, 1915 

Cotton cloth $ 1,901,045 

Rice 800,697 

Hardware 726,307 

Drugs and medicines 818,942 

Cars 127,275 

Electrical apparatus 159,343 

Wines 146,947 

Glassware 249,047 

Paper and cardboard 310,270 

Petroleum 182,600 

Coal . 17,225 

Hides, skins, leather, etc 227,233 

Lumber 34,929 

Oils and grease ♦. . . 185,670 

Wheat 463,219 

Vegetable products 434,216 

Perfumes and soaps 99,128 

Rubber, celluloid, etc 41,803 

Musical goods 72,995 

Bags 331,357 

Firearms and ammunition 66,154 

Explosives and combustibles 38,419 

Live animals 8,822 

Silver coin 307,551 



Principal articles op export to U. S., 1915 

Coffee $12,632,829 

Bananas 863,483 

Rubber 102,339 

Ipecac 248,524 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 137 

Leaf tobacco $ 24,338 

| Gold 921,350 

; Silver 7,424 

| Platinum 504,302 

Cattle hides 2,079,343 

i Panama hats 566,683 

i Panama hats (Sugar) 134,037 

! Live animals 41,255 

| Tanning extract 129,046 

i Other products , , ..•••-••, 66,911 

Transportation 

From New York, 

United Fruit Co. To Santa Marta, etc. 

Red D. S. S. Co. To Venezuelan ports and thence by 
coasting steamers. 

Time of passage (via Panama), 9 days. 

Time of passage (via Haiti), 10-14 days. 



COSTA RICA 

Population. 430,701. 

Capital. San Jose, with, a population of 30,000. 

Language. Spanish. 

Currency. Gold. " Colon" of 100 Centavos == $0,465 

U.S. 
Weights and Measures. Metric, Standard. Spanish 

"Vara"=33 inches; Spanish "Libra"= 1.014 

pounds; Spanish "Arroba"= 25.36 pounds. 
Postage. Postal Union rates. Parcels post. 
Area. 23,000 sq. miles. 
Comparative Area. About equal to Vermont, New 

Hampshire and Rhode Island. 
Total Commerce, 1916. $17,725,097. 

Percentage of Foreign Trade 
(1917) 

FOREIGN COMMERCE BY COUNTRIES 

Country Imports Exports 

United States 69.48 71.33 

Germany 01 

Great Britain 12.63 21.93 

France 2.46 .28 

Central America ■ 3.87 .69 

Italy 1.50 .15 

Spain 2.00 .10 

Other countries 1.70 .... 

Total 100 100 

138 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 139 

PRINCIPAL IMPORTS, 1917 

Cotton fabrics $ 274,590 

Rice 154,906 

Coffee 81,277 

Corn meal 14,966 

Drugs 147,366 

Electric goods 70,001 

Flour 559,289 

Wheat 108 

Iron pipe 125,945 

Lumber 36,411 

Lard 125,945 

Industrial materials 47,756 

Railway Materials: 

Building 489,305 

Tobacco 63,175 

Cashmere 79,035 

Cement 546,910 

Industrial oils 16,696 

Structural iron 56,078 

Leather 83,308 

Lumber 36,411 

Tools 39,966 

Codfish 39,180 

Paraffin 99,872 

Machinery . . . . 77,930 



PRINCIPAL ARTICLES OF EXPORT 

(1917) 

Bananas 4,040,625 

Coffee 3,779,747 



140 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Gold and silver bars 1,021,629 

Woods 287,200 

Hides and skins 308,275 

Rubber . . . 44,621 

Sugar .. „ . ._...._. . . 387,168 

Transportation 
railways 

There are about 430 miles of railway in actual opera- 
tion in Costa Rica, all of Z 1 /, ft. gauge. Of this amount 
69 miles belongs to the government, 141 miles is the 
property of the Northern Railway Co., and 217 miles is 
owned by the Costa Rica Railway Co. The latter line 
is, however, leased to the Northern so that the entire 
system of 358 miles with its main terminal at Limon is 
under one general management. In addition to the 
main lines, various branch lines have been constructed 
to reach the largest banana lands. The main line runs 
from Port Limon on the eastern coast to San Jose, the 
capital, a distance of 103 miles and is continued on to 
Alajuela, 14 miles north of San Jose. The Pacific Rail- 
way extends from San Jose to Puntarenas on the Pacific 
Coast, a distance of 70 miles, thus affording through 
Connection by rail between the Atlantic and Pacific 
coasts of the republic and making the sixth transcon- 
tinental railway in the two Americas. 

On the line from Limon to San Jose a daily passenger 
service is maintained, the trip being made from coast to 
capital in about six hours, unless delays are occasioned 
by land slides, as frequently happens. Among the rail- 
ways under construction is a line extending southward 
from the Bananito River on the Atlantic Coast near 
Limon. 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 141 

Thfere are 16 navigable rivers in the republic, the most 
important of which is the San Juan which flows along 
i the northern boundary and communicates with Lake 
, Nicaragua, 

OCEANIC TRANSPORTATION 

From New York. 

United Fruit Co. Weekly to Port Limon via Jamaica 
and Colon. 
From Boston, 

United Fruit Co. "Weekly to Port Limon. 
From New Orleans. 

United Fruit Co. Weekly to Port Limon. 
From Mobile and Galveston. 

United Fruit Co. Irregular sailings to Limon. 
From San Francisco. 

Pacific Mail S. S. Co. Three times a month to Pun- 
tarenas. 

Time of passage from New York, seven to nine days. 



CUBA 

Population. 2,627,536. 

Capital. Havana, with a population of 319,884. 

Language. Spanish. 

Currency. None. There is no Cuban currency or paper 
money. Currency in circulation consists of Spanish 
Silver, " pesos "— about $0.60 and subdivisions 
thereof. United States Currency at par. Spanish 
Gold "Centen"=$5.30 (arbitrary). French Gold 
"Luis":=r$4.24 (arbitrary). Gold Onzas = $17.00. 
Gold Escudos = $4.25. Gold Medio Eseudos,= $2.12}4 
Gold Medio Luises = $2.12. 

Weights and Measures. Metric, standard. Spanish 
measures used in retail trade; "Vara":= 33.384 
inches, "Arroba"— 25.366 pounds. United States 
measures also used to some extent. 

Postage. Matter for delivery in Cuba same as for 
United States except that certain articles may be sent 
subject to Postal Union rates. No parcels post. 

Area. 45,881 sq. miles. 

Comparative Area. A trifle larger than Pennsylvania, 
placed on map of United States would reach from 
New York to Indianapolis with average width equal 
to New Jersey. 

Total Commerce, 1916. $604,849,629. 

Exports and Imports 

Total foreign commerce for 1916 $604,849,62* 

Imports 248,278,27 

Exports 356,571,35( 

142 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 143 

PRINCIPAL EXPORTS, 1916 

Mineral products $ 3,224,826 

Sugar 266,743,554 

Fruits 2,600,704 

Ores 11,167,147 

Tobacco leaf 16,156,004 

Citrus, etc 9,731,509 

PRINCIPAL IMPORTS, 1916 

Iron and steel 13,036,638 

Cotton and manufacturers 16,162,979 

Wood and products 5,934,425 

Machinery 26,740,650 

Apparatus 10,399,873 

Meats 18,427,137 

Cereals 26,151,554 

PROPORTION OP COMMERCE TO UNITED STATES 

Imports Exports 

United States 72 percent. 75.40 percent 

Transportation 
railways 
Cuba is well supplied with railways, the main line of 
the Cuban Central Railway running the entire distance 
from Havana to Santiago with branches to all the prin- 
cipal ports on the northern and southern coasts. In ad- 
dition there are numerous lines connecting Havana with 
the ports of Matanzas, Batabano, etc., while another 
line extends to Pinar del Rio with branches to various 
ports on the coasts. 



144 FACTS AND FIGURES 

OCEANIC TRANSPORTATION 

From New York. 

Ward Line (New York and Cuba Mail S.S. Co.) to 
Havana, weekly. 

Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. to Santiago. 

Compania Transatlantica, to Havana. 

Monson S.S. Line to north coast ports. 

East Coast Line via rail to Key West to Havana. 

United Fruit Co. to Santiago. 
From Boston. 

United Fruit Co. to Havana. 
From New Orleans. 

Southern Pacific R. R. Line to Havana. 
From Moibile. 

Munson Line to Havana. 
From Galveston. 

United Shipping Co. 
From Tampa and Miami. 

P. & 0. Line to Havana. 
From Europe. 

Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. 

Royal Dutch W. I. Line. 

Compagnie Generale Transatlantique. 

Compania Transatlantica and several other lines. 



DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 

Population. 795,000. 

Capital. Santo Domingo City, with population of 
19,000. 

Language. Spanish. 

Currency. Standard adopted is the gold dollar of 
United States. Dominican silver " pesos" and sub- 
divisions fluctuate in value. 

Weights and Measures. Metric: standard. Dominican 
" Quintal "== 101.4 pounds; Dominican "Vera"= 
32.91 inches. 

Postage. Postal Union rates. No parcels post. 

Area. 19,325 sq. miles. 

Comparative Area. About two-thirds as large as Maine. 
About the size of Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode 
Island. Nearly twice the size of Belgium. 

Total Commerce, 1917. $39,846,721. 

Exports and Imports for 1916 
principal imports and values 

Agricultural implements $ 121,830 

Wheat flour 621,900 

Chemicals, drugs, dyes 293,072 

Cotton manufactures 1,721,534 

Fibre manufactures 508,644 

Fish and products 309,204 

Iron and steel manufactures 1,562,367 

Leather and manufactures 385,518 

145 



146 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Malt liquors, bottled $ 143,949 

Oils 545,284 

Paper and manufactures 120,747 

Provisions, including meats and dairy prod- 
ucts 530,195 

Rice 1,080,068 

Soap 129,028 

Sugar and confectionery 224,583 

Vehicles and boats 401,298 

Wood and manufactures 295,039 

Wool and manufactures 36,696 

All other articles 265,707 

Total , , $10,162,698 ; 



PRINCIPAL EXPORTS AND VALUES 

Cacao $ 5,958,669 

Coffee 316,827 

Hides of cattle 47,833 

Honey 476 

Molasses 7,562 

Sugar 7,671,383 

Tobacco, leaf 972,496 

Wood: 

Logwood 161,225 

Mahogany 1,229 

Others 747 

Various other articles 1,395 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 147 

Shipping 
(1916) 

ARRIVALS 

Number Tonnage 

Steamships with cargo 274 331,680 

Steamships in ballast 272 222,071 

Sailing ships with cargo 139 26,913 

Sailing ships in ballast 148 8,973 



Total 599 405,748 

SAILINGS 

Steamships with cargo 409 477,435 

Steamships in ballast 107 72,209 

Sailing ships with cargo 152 14,635 

Sailing ships in ballast Ill 16,882 

Railways 

There are approximately 150 miles of railway in oper- 
ation in the republic, in addition to about 225 miles of 
private estate tramway lines. The longest line, from 
Samana to La Vega and thence via Moca, is about 100 
miles in length. The Dominican Central Railway from 
Puerta Plata to Santiago and Moca has a total mileage 
of 62 miles, of Which 28 miles lie through broken and 
very mountainous country. 

Banks 

The fiirst national bank organized under Dominican 
banking laws was opened in 1912, former banking busi- 
ness having been conducted by private bankers and 



148 FACTS AND FIGURES 

merchants. The authorised capital of the National 
Bank is $2,000,000 American gold, of which $500,000 
was paid in. 






Commerce by Countries, 1915 
imports prom 



United States $ 7,361,259- 

Great Britain 630,923' 

Germany 95,317' 

France 93,200 

Spain 144,688 

Italy 92,869 

Cuba 74,619 

Porto Rico 376,231 

Other countries 249,408 



Total $ 9,118,514 



EXPORTS to 

United States $12,044,271 

Great Britain 84,366 

Germany 5,644 

France 189,448 i 

Italy 21,813 

Cuba 22,871 

Porto Rico 248,921 

Other countries 2,591,727 



Total $15,209,061 



THE EEPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 149 

Steamship Lines 
\From New York. 

Clyde West India Line. Twice monthly with cargo 
I passengers and mail. 
I From Philadelphia. 

United Fruit Co. Semi-monthly. 
From Porto Rico. 

Herera Line to Cuba from St. Thomas; Hamburg- 
American Line, to Jamaica from St. Thomas; Spanish 
Line to Cuba from Europe. 

Time of Passage from New York to Puerta Plata, 7 
days ; to Sanchez, 9 days j to San Domingo City, 12 days. 



ECUADOR 

Population. About 2,000,000. 

Capital. Quito, with a population of about 100,000. 

Language. Spanish. 

Currency. Gold, " Sucre " of 100 Centavos = $0,487 
U. S. Ten Sucres — 1 Condor === Pound sterling. 

Weights and Measures. Metric ; standard. Old Spanish 
measures used "Quintal "= 101.4 pounds; " Libra "= 
1.014 pounds; "Vara"= 33 inches. 

Postage. Postal Union rates. Parcels post; limit of 
value $50.00. 

Area. 116,000 sq. miles (estimated). 

Comparative Area. As large as the whole of New Eng- 
land with New York and New Jersey in addition. 

Total Commerce, 1916. $26,947,183. 

Exports and Imports for 1916 
trade with various countries 

Country Imports Exports 

United States $5,363,689 $ 8,567,527 

United Kingdom 2,392,997 3,566,334 

Germany 6,279 

Australia 29,454 

France 389,927 2,181,780 

Belgium . . 530 

Italy 257,769 468,069 

Spain 493,026 716,066 

Peru 153,630 129,784 

Chile 71,637 294,257 

Holland 24,371 844,389 



Total $9,346,585 $17,600,578 

150 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 151 

PRINCIPAL ARTICLES IMPORTED, 1916 

Articles Sucres 

Oils in general 278,398 

Live animals 8,949 

Arms and ammunition 82,408 

•Food supplies 1,272,568 

Boots, shoes and findings 361,146 

Carriages 164,792 

Cement 59,312 

Leather 19,056 

Drugs 466,136 

Hardware 613,580 

Matches .. . 18,711 

Cordage 265,658 

Musical instruments 53,070 

Jewellery 103,634 

Books 77,144 

Crockery and glassware 104,616 

Lumber 32,883 

Machinery 444,508 

Mineral products 266,894 

Paper 259,070 

Perfumes 253,861 

Paints and varnish 56,340 

Ready-made clothing 536,259 

Silk fabrics 39,114 

Hats „; 130,601 

Textiles other than silk . . . . 2,211,219 

Vegetables 215,447 

Candles 210,418 

Wines and liquors. ....... 237,088 



152 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Articles Snores 

Other goods 307,762 

Currency 1,650,000 

Total $9,346,585 

PRINCIPAL EXPORTS 
(1916) 

Articles Sucres 

Cacao 12,773,040 

Coffee 631,668 

Cotton 77 

Fresh fruits 11,444 

Bananas 22,419 

Gold, bars, dust, etc 489,125 

Panama hats 1,008,980 

Mocora straw 17,244 

Toquilla straw (for hats) 13,567 

Hides of cattle 490,456 

Ivory nuts 1,117,584 

Rubber 327,937 

Tobacco 4,636 

Other goods 195,027 

Total $17,600,598 

Transportation 

railways 

The total extent of railway lines in actual operation in 

Ecuador is about 400 miles. The Guayaquil and Quito 

line, which constitutes the greater portion of the total 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 153 

mileage, completed the construction of its road from 
Guayaquil to the capital on June 25, 1908, and since then 
passenger and freight trains have been running regu- 
larly. The passenger trains run only during the day 
and make the trip of 297 miles in two days, whereas for- 
merly it was necessary to make the trip by mules and 
on foot and the time consumed was from 12 to 15 days. 
The Machala Railway, owned by the municipality of the 
city of Machala, extends from Puerto Bolivar to Machala, 
Pasaje and Guabo, a distance of 19 miles. A line which 
will traverse a rich mineral district is proposed between 
Puerto Bolivar and Biblian and will soon be constructed. 
Another road under construction by a French company 
extends from the Bay of Caraquez to Quito and passen- 
ger service was extended as far as Canton de Chone on 
November, 1912. The total length of this line will be 
186 miles. The route passes through a very fertile re- 
gion especially adapted to the cultivation of cacao. Still 
another railway from Cuenca, the third city in the re- 
public, to Huigra is under construction. Several of the 
rivers are navigable for considerable distances inland and 
about 20 steamers, as well as numerous sailing vessels, 
maintain a coast and river service. The Guayas River, 
at the mouth of which Guayaquil is situated, is navigable 
for river steamers for 40 miles as far as Bodegas, while 
smaller vessels can reach Zapotal, 200 miles inland, dur- 
ing the wet season. The Daule River is navigable for 60 
miles, the Vinces for 50 miles, while the Amazon, known 
in Ecuador as the Marafion, is navigable for almost its 
entire length in the republic and thus one may reach 
Brazil and the Atlantic from the eastern slopes of the 
Ecuadorean Andes. 



154 FACTS AND FIGURES 

OCEANIC TRANSPORTATION 

From New York. 

Merchants ' Line. Irregularly about once a month for 
S. A. ports via Straits of Magellan. 

West Coast Line. Same itinerary as above. 

New York and Pacific S. S. Co. As above. 
From Panama. 

Pacific Stream Navigation Co. Weekly to West Coast 
ports. 

Compania Sud Americana de Vapores. Weekly to 
West Coast ports. 

Peruvian S. S. Co. Weekly to West Coast ports. 

Dock Co. of Callao. Weekly to West Coast ports. 
From San Francisco. 

Kosmos Line. Fortnightly via West Coast ports. 
From Europe. 

Gulf Line from Glasgow. 

Lamport and Holt Line from Liverpool. 

Time of Passage from New York to Guayaquil via Sts. 
of Magellan, 60 to 75 days; to Guayaquil via Panama 
14 days. 

From San Francisco to Guayaquil, 24 to 30 days. 



GUATEMALA 

I Population. 2,000,000. 

1 Capital Guatemala City, with a population of 90,000. 
Language. Spanish. 

Currency. Peso (gold) =$0.9642 U.S. currency. Peso, 

silver, fluctuates in value, the average value being 

about $0.45. The common currency in use is paper 

which is of greatly depreciated value, a peso being 

| equal to about $0.06 U. S. gold. Peso of 100 centavos 

== 8 reales of 12y 2 centavos. 
: Weights and Measures. Metric; standard. Old Span- 
ish measures in use are "Vara"= 32.87 inches; "Ar- 
roba"= 25.36 pounds. 
Postage. Postal Union rates. Parcels post. 
Area. 48,290 sq. miles. 

Comparative Area. About the size of Mississippi. 
Total Commerce, 1916. $17,336,761. 



Exports for 1916 
trade with various countries 

Country Exports 

United States $ 8,668,573 

Germany 91,658 

Great Britain 86,087 

Mexico 72,169 

Spain 47,568 

Italy 74,932 

Holland 947,042 

155 



156 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Denmark 35,836 

Dutch Honduras 47,647 

Total $10,617,295 

Total commerce $17,336,761 

PRINCIPAL ARTICLES OF IMPORT, 1917 

Cotton textiles and manufactures $ 2,294,425 

Iron and steel manufactures 399,609 

Food materials 437,687 

Railway material 128,170 

Wheat flour .._. 1,008,051 

Agricultural and industrial machinery 157,239 

Wines and liquors 77,527 

Drugs and medicines 278,263 

Silk textiles and manufactures 112,118 

Woollen textiles and manufactures 136,940 

Linen, hemp and jute manufactures 232,737 

Petroleum 252,826 

Lumber 10,632 

Paper and stationers' supplies 239,263 

Leather manufactures 206,952 

Glass, china and crockery 74,800 

Manufactures of wood and iron 177,482 

Coal 5,322 

Lead, tin, copper and metal goods 107,958 

PRINCIPAL ARTICLES EXPORTED TO UNITED STATES, 1917 

Coffee (cleaned) $ 5,355,577 

Coffee in parchment 74,735 

Bananas 990,790 

Cattle hides 35,477 

Sugar (incomplete) 449,945 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 157 

Chicle 59,694 

Rubber 64,184 

Hats 7,373 

Honey 14,693 

Horns 36 

Wool clothing 10,016 

Wool 15,698 

Broom, root 3,834 

Wood carvings 596 

Minerals 46,971 

Beans 487 

Live plants 390 

Tobacco 4,347 

Shoes 393 

Transportation 
railways 
Guatemala has some 450 miles of railways in operation, 
all of which are of 3-foot gauge. There are five lines, 
as follows: The Verapaz Railway on the eastern coast 
between Panzos and Pancajche, 28 miles, gives outlet to 
the rich Verapaz district through Lake Izabel, the Dulce 
River and Port Livingston. The Guatemala Central, 
which is the oldest railway in the republic, ran originally 
from San Jose on the Pacific to Escuintla and later to 
Guatemala City. Later it was extended westward to 
Mazatenango where a few years ago it was joined by the 
Occidental Railway built from Champerico on the Pacific 
through Caballo Blanco and Retalhuleu as far as San 
Felipe. The two roads are now combined and have a 
total length of 189 miles. The Ocos Railway starts at 
Ocos on the Pacific and runs parallel to the Suchiate 
River (the boundary between Guatemala and Mexico) as 



158 FACTS AND FIGURES 

far as Ayutla, where it turns east and ends at Vado An- 
cho. Its length is 23 miles. 

The latest railway to be completed extends from 
Puerto Barrios on the east coast to Guatemala City and 
thence to San Jose on the Pacific, thus affording through 
transportation from coast to coast. The length of this 
line is 270 miles. 

In addition to these lines the Guatemala Railway Com- 
pany has contracted for a railway from Zacapa to the 
frontier of Salvador and from that line another road 
will be extended to Santa Ana, Salvador, where it will 
connect with the Salvador Railway. 

On November 21, 1910, work was commenced on the 
Guatemala section of the Pan-American Railway which 
will connect the Guatemala Central Railway at Las 
Cruces with the Pan-American Railway in the State of 
Chiapas, Mexico. The length of this section is 38 miles 
and it is now nearly completed (1913). 

OCEANIC TRANSPORTATION 

From New York, 

Hamburg- American Line (Atlas). Monthly. 

United Fruit Co. 
From New Orleans. 

United Fruit Co. 
From Mobile. 

Orr, Laubenheimer Line. 

United Fruit Co. 
From San Francisco. 

Pacific Mail S. S. Co. 

Kosmos Line. 

Time of passage from New York to Guatemala City 
via New Orleans, 7 days ; Livingston via New Orleans, 10 
days. 



HAITI 

Population. About 2,100,000. 

| Capital. Port au Prince, 75,000. 

Language. French and French Patois. 

\ Currency. Gold " Gourde "= $0.25 U. S. U. S. gold 

current in republic. 
\W eights and Measures. Metric system, standard. 
Pounds, tons and gallons used in commerce and statis- 
tics. Pound of 500 grams = 1.1023 lbs. avoirdupois 
is adapted in customs. Ton = 2,000 lbs. Gallon = 
U. S. gallon. 
\ Tost age. Postal Union rates. No parcels post. 
1 Area. About 11,000 sq. miles. 
Total Commerce, 1916. $23,312,000. 

Imports by Countries, 1916 

' United States $6,381,668 

Great Britain 409,811 

France 345,190 

Germany . . . 338,004 

Other countries 138,099, 

PRINCIPAL ARTICLES OP IMPORT FROM UNITED STATES 

Figures of quantities only available 

Automobiles No. 231 

Bacon bbls. 2,284 

Bags No. 630,000 

Cocoa lbs. 12,853 

Biscuit lbs. 21,650 

159 



160 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Butter lbs. 375,702, 

Candies lbs. 43,154 

Water pipes ft. 186,082^ 

Cement bags 35,922, 

Cheese lbs. 1,144,74a 

Codfish lbs. 1,736,133 

Cotton cloth . .yds. 4,570,891 

Nankinet lbs. 1,862,040; 

Drill yds. 1,390,126 

Vaseline lbs. 115,000. 

Glass tumblers dozs. 10,700'; 

Hams lbs. 74,873fe 

Herrings, smoked bxs. 82,393) 

Herrings, pickled ; bbls. 17,004 c 

Iron bars lbs. 211,066; 

Lard ... lbs. 2,236,237;! 

Lumber ft. 3,061,352; 

Macaroni lbs. 79,071j 

Nails .lbs. 317,166; 

Oakum lbs. 32,758, 

Ochre lbs. 48,072 

Oil, kerosene gals. 797,014 

Oil, cotton-seed gals. 21,088,j 

Oil, other gals. 22,015i{ 

Oilcloth yds. 41,940* 

Paint .lbs. 344,524? 

Paper: 

Wrapping .reams 623! 

Tissue sheets 63,000 

Typewriter reams 5,886 

Pork bbls. 2,410p 

Rope, manila lbs. 35,811' 

Salt lbs. 6,606 • 



r2 

L4 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 161 
i 

Soap lbs. 6,539,998 

Sugar lbs. 259,988 

Jobacco lbs. 1,108,109 

Cigarettes No. 789,970 

*Twine lbs. 18,931 

[Wire (bottling) lbs. 115,000 

Principal Articles op Export to United States 
(1917) 

jBeeswax $ 4,682 

ICocoa 19,531 

Cocoanuts 1,459 

Coffee 466,570 

Copper, old 6,697 

Cotton 60,235 

Cotton-seed oil 3,292 

Goat skins 59,508 

Hides 15,583 

Honey 23,721 

Lead, old 1,317 

Lignum- vitae, wood 28,249 

Castor beans 92,857 

Logwood , 110,546 

Mahogany 1,077 

Sponges 1,267 

Tortoise shell 1,457 



Total $ 903,102 

Ocean Transportation 
From New York. 

Royal Dutch West India Line. Mail, passengers and 
cargo. 



162 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Royal Mail Packet Co. Connecting at West Indian 
ports. 

Compagnie Generale Transatlantique. Connecting at 
West Indian ports. 

Compania Transatlantica. Connecting at West India 1 
ports. ) 

New York & Porto Rico S. S. Co. To Porto Rico thence* 
by various lines from St. Thomas. 

^ Clyde W. I. Line. To Dominican Republic and thence 
via several inter-island lines. 
From Cuba. 

By Herera Line. 

Compania Transatlantica. 

Compagnie Generale Transatlantique, etc. 
From Europe. 

Hamburg-American Line, Royal Mail S. S. Co., Dutch 
W. I. Mail, Compagnie Generale Transatlantique, Com- 
pania Transatlantica. 
From Colon. 

Hamburg- American Line and others. 

Time of passage from New York to Cape Haitien 6 
days j to Port au Prince, 7 days. 



HONDURAS 

; Population. 650,000. 
Capital. Tegucigalpa, 35,000. 
1 Language. Spanish. 

I Currency. Silver peso = $0.40 U. S. Peso = 100 cen- 
tavos or 8 Reales. Real = 12y 2 centavos = $0.05 U. S. 
; Weights and Measures. Metric system, standard. Span- 
ish measures in use are "Vara"= 32.87 inches; "Ar- 
roba"= 25.36 pounds. 
j Postage. Postal Union rates. Parcels post. 
I Area. 46,250 sq. miles. 

Comparative Area. About the size of Pennsylvania. 
Total Commerce, 1915. $9,016,157. 

Imports and Exports 

(1916) 

Foreign Commerce by Countries 

Imports 

United States $1,417,287 

Great Britain 72,252 

Germany 67,539 

France 67,539 

Central America 37,402 

Spain 15,924 

Italy 9,268 

Exports, 1915 

United States $3,041,000 

Guatemala 45,000 

163 



164 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Germany 703 

Great Britain 14,000 

Salvador 8,000 

Nicaragua 454 

Other countries 29,000 

Total $3,142,157 { 

PRINCIPAL EXPORTS TO UNITED STATES 
(1917) 

Copra $ 20,792 

Deerskins 40,068 

Hides 291,472 

Plantains 11,158 

Gold ore 268,775 

Silver 1,277,028 

Rubber 26,638 

Sugar 414,230 

Vegetable products: 

Bananas 3,451,521 

Cocoanuts 421,897 

Coffee 61,510 

Mahogany 2,367 

Sarsaparilla 10,464 

Other vegetables 9,374 

Total $6,426,456 

PRINCIPAL IMPORTS AND VALUES, 1915 

Cotton cloth , $ 796,297 

Clothing 154,975 

Automobiles - .'. 29,431 



THE EEPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 165 

; Cutlery $ 25,349 

| Iron bars 278,129 

| Chemicals 272,313 

I Timber 635,030 

1 Shoes ,....- 202,452 

; Agricultural tools, etc 66,731 

' Meat products 167,471 

| Wines 48,370 

; Arms 37,705 

! Paper 28,933 

' Oils, mineral 76,076 

I Jewelry 28,323 

I Wire 61,651 

I Railroad cars 99,034 

Wool, cloth 19,856 

| Dynamite 75,078 

j Electrical supplies 27,656 

| Leather goods 16,720 

j Machinery 281,992 

Hats 29,914 

Coal 38,387 

Wooden furniture 24,464 

Candles 48,809 

Musical instruments 17,314 

Soap 35,218 

Vehicles 24,928 

Steel cutlery 25,349 

Paints 27,944 

Confectionery 48,809 

Chinaware 14,179 

Matches 15,281 

Cement 37,016 

Musical instruments 17,314 



166 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Silk clothing $ 19,383 

Perfumes " 16,380 

Dairy products 65,428 

Fibres 29,952 

Fish 24,600 

Fruits 29,383 

Glassware 37,570 

Tobacco 20,520 

Hay 25,937 

Rubber goods 12,280 

Spices ; , ... 10,360 

Flour 429,109 

Thread 27,399 

Toys 4,746 

Animals 27,918 

Mineral water 6,119 

Copper goods . ._. ... ... . ... ... . ... 25,214 



Transportation Facilities 

From New York. 

United Fruit Co. Monthly steamers for Puerto Cortes 
and Tela. These ships carry freight only. 
From New Orleans. 

Independent Steamship Line (Vaccaro Bros. & Co.). 
Steamers every Thursday and Saturday for La Ceiba, 
calling at Island of Roatan and Trujillo as freight offers. 
Freight, passengers and mail. 

Atlantic Fruit Co. Weekly steamers for Puerto 
Cortes. Freight, passengers and mail. 

United Fruit Co. Every Thursday for Puerto Cortes 
and weekly for La Ceiba and Tela. Freight only. 



THE KEPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 167 

From Mobile. 

The Orr-Laubenheimer Co. S. S. Line. Twice monthly 
for Punta Gorda. Freight, passengers and mail. 

United Fruit Co. Weekly for Puerto Cortes, Tela and 
La Ceiba. Freight, passengers and mail. 

Hubbard-Zemurray S. S. Co. Weekly tq Puerto 
Cortes, Tela and La Ceiba. Freight, passengers and 
mail. 
From San Francisco. 

Pacific Mail S. S. Co. Twice a month for Amapala. 
Kosmos Line. Monthly to Amapala. 
From Seattle. 

Merchants' Line (W. R. Grace & Co.) Irregularly 
twice a month to Amapala. 
From Balboa (Panama). 

Pacific Mail S. S. Co. Twice monthly for Amapala. 



THROUGH BILLS OP LADING BY OTHER LINES 

From New York. 

Southern Pacific Co. To all Atlantic ports in Hon- 
duras via New Orleans. 

Panama R. R. Steamship Line. Via Colon, Panama to 
Amapala. 

Hamburg-American Line. Via Colon, Panama to 
Amapala. 

United Fruit Co. Via Colon, Panama to Amapala. 

Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. Via Colon, Panama to 
Amapala. 

American-Hawaiian S. S. Co. Via Puerto Mexico, 
thence by railway to Calina Cruz (Tehuantepec Route), 
and thence by ship to Amapala. 



168 FACTS AND FIGURES 

From European Ports. 

Kosmos Line. Direct from South and Central Amer- 
ican Pacific ports to Hamburg. 

By through bills of lading. Via Colon, and Panama 
R. R., or via South American ports to Amapala. 
No Direct Communication to Atlantic Coast Ports of 
Honduras. 

European merchandise to Atlantic ports of Honduras 
is shipped via New York or other United States ports 
and requires seven or eight months to reach its destina- 
tion after orders are placed, whereas goods ordered in 
United States arrive in six to eight weeks, thus giving 
a very great advantage to American exporters. 

Railway Lines in Honduras 

At present there is no railway from the Pacific Coast 
to the interior. Amapala, the only Pacific port, is on 
the Island of Tigre in the Bay of Fonseca, and passen- 
gers and merchandise are carried to San Lorenzo by 
sail-boats and motor-boats. From San Lorenzo to the 
capital — Tegucigalpa, 94 miles distant — all traffic is over 
a cart road. This road was originally a splendid auto- 
mobile highway but has fallen into bad state owing to 
lack of attention and repair, and freight is carried over 
it by mule train. At the present time repairs and re- 
construction are under way on this road. 

On the Atlantic side a railway runs from Puerto 
Cortes through the Sula Valley to San Pedro and thence 
inland to La Pimienta, a total distance of 56 miles. At La 
Ceiba, Vaccaro Bros, maintain about 57 miles of rail- 
ways in the banana district. There is also a banana line 
about 5 miles in length at El Porvenir. The Cuyamel 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 169 

Fruit Co. has a line 12 miles long, the Palmas Plan- 
tation Co. a line of 5 miles in length and the Tela Fruit 
Co. another short line of 4 miles, making a total mileage 
of about 140. The United Fruit Co. is engaged in rail- 
way construction work totalling about 250 miles and 
concessions have been granted for the construction of 
various other lines, among them a line to the capital. 
At the present time Tegucigalpa has the distinction of 
i being one of the few capital cities of the world which 
\ is absolutely without railway communication in any 
, direction. 

Banks 

The Atlantida Bank at La Ceiba was opened on Feb- 
j ruary 1, 1912. This bank has an authorised capital of 
; $5,000,000 in gold. 



MEXICO 

Population, 1915. 15,500,000. 

Capital. City of Mexico, with a population of 500,000. 
Language. Spanish. 

Currency. Peso of 100 centavos = $0,498 U. S. cur- 
rency. 
Weights and Measures. Metric standard. Old Spanish 
measures in use are "Libra"— 1.01465 pounds; "Ar- 
roba"= 25.366 pounds; " Vara "= 32.992 inches. 
Postage. Postage from United States same as inter- 
state rates except for printed matter, samples, etc., 
which are at Postal Union rates. Parcels post, weight 
limit 4 lbs. 6 oz. to some places 11 lbs. 
Area. 767,097 sq.- miles. 

Comparative Area. About the size of all Atlantic States 
from Maine to Florida. Larger than California, Ore- 
gon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Idaho 
combined. More than three times as large as Ger- 
many. 
Total Commerce, 1915. 

Note. The figures in regard to Mexico's trade should 
not be taken as the measure of her trade to-day. No 
official data on trade conditions have been published 
since 1912. The statistics are merely given as an aid 
in comparing the commerce of Mexico with other Latin- 
American countries. 



170 






THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 171 

Imports and Exports for 1911 

Proportion of Commerce of Various Countries 

Country Imports Exports 

United States $49,212,836 $112,729,956 

Germany 11,922,609 5,158,365 

Great Britain 10,753,154 20,099,328 

France 7,809,138 4,164,911 

Spain 2,950,217 1,180,286 

Belgium 1,639,630 3,177,322 

Italy 974,731 

Austria-Hungary . . 1,045,399 

Switzerland 782,278 

Canada 482,289 > 

Holland 272,762 

Norway 217,631 

Sweden 363,143 

Asia 1,523,969 9,096 

South America 788,097 33,221 

West Indies 81,955 979,005 

Africa 55,861 

Oceania 51,272 84,909 

Central America 49,146 1,078,827 

Other countries 299,338 



Total $91,331,155 $148,994,564 

PRINCIPAL IMPORTS 

Minerals substances $ 23,355,989 

Vegetable substances • 15,642,782 

Machinery and apparatus 11,691,906 

Textiles and manufactures of 10,640,786 

Animal substances 8,233,156 



172 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Chemical, drugs, etc $ 6,037,044 

Cars, carriages, wagons, etc 2,300,445 

Wines, spirits, etc 3,372,042 

Paper and manufactures 2,560,385 

Arms and explosives 2,694,172 

Miscellaneous 4,802,448 

Total $ 91,331,115 

PRINCIPAL EXPORTS 

Mineral products $ 93,103,401 

Vegetable products 41,793,475 

Animal products 9,930,598 

Manufactures 3,301,789 

Miscellaneous 865,301 

Total $148,994,564 

Transportation 

RAILWAYS 

There were about 15,260 miles of railway in operation 
in Mexico in 1912, of which 3,007 are under control of 
the States. They are divided as follows: 

ROADS CONTROLLED BY GOVERNMENT 

Miles 

Mexican Central Railway .3,516 

National Railroad of Mexico 1,218 

Uruapan division (National) 318 

Michoacan & Pacific (leased) 57 

Hidalgo & Northwestern (National line) . . . 152 

r 

Total .5,261 

Yards, etc ............ 635 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 173 

ROADS CONTROLLED BY THE NATIONAL RAILWAYS 

Mexican International 917 

Tehuantepec National 220 

Vera Cruz & Isthmus 264 

Pan American 297 

Interoceanic 736 

Mexican Southern 282 

Total 2,716 8,612 

INDEPENDENT RAILWAYS 

Mexican Railway 340 

Kansas City, Mexico & Orient 276 

Mexican Northern 81 

Mexican North Western (controlling the 
Chihuahua & Pacific; Sierra Madre & 

Pacific and Rio Grande, Sierra Madre . . 366 

Parral & Durango 65 

Potosi & Rio Verde 40 

Southern Pacific 1,195 

Vera Cruz Railways 45 

United Railways of Yucatan 503 

Various local and mining roads, State rail- 
ways, sidings and electric railways 3,737 

Total . . .6,648 6,648 

Total mileage ., 15,260 

OCEANIC TRANSPORTATION 

Lines of steamships too numerous to mention connect 
all principal ports of United States and Europe with 
the Atlantic and Pacific ports of Mexico. 



174 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Time of passage from New York to Guaymas via rail- 
road, 6 days; to Magdalena Bay via San Francisco, 10 
days ; to Mazatlan via San Francisco, 10 days ; to Mexico 
City via railroad, 5 days; to Vera Cruz via railroad, 6 
days ; to Vera Cruz via steamship, 8 days. 



NICARAGUA 

Population, (estimated). 700,000. 

Capital. Managua, with a population of 34,872. 

Language. Spanish. 

Currency. Cordoba (gold) = $1.00 U. S. currency. 

Silver peso of 100 centavos = $0.40 U. S. 
Weights and Measures. Metric, legal. Old Spanish 

measures in use are "Vara"= 33 inches; "Arroba" 

= 25.36 pounds. 
Postage. Postal Union rates. Parcels post. 
Area. 49,200 sq. miles. 

Comparative Area. About the size of New York State. 
Total Commerce, 1917. $12,368,224 

Imports and Exports for 1915 
commerce by principal countries 

Country Imports Exports 

United States $2,592,799 $3,079,810 

Great Britain 302,294 438,500 

Germany 36,960 

France 138,218 600,684 

Italy 43,962 274,312 

China 196 12,766 

Salvador 3,059 10,134 

Spain 20,247 35,217 

Guatemala 914 3,623 

Japan 136 

Honduras 2,106 17,438 

Costa Rica 4,030 6,571 

175 



176 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Country Imports Exports 

Other countries of America. . $9,102 $23,829 

Other countries of Europe. . 5,195 64,318 



Total $3,159,218 $4,567,202 

PRINCIPAL IMPORTS, 1917 

Cotton cloth $1,412,263 

Wheat flour 400,322 

Cement 20,621 

Clothing 220,585 

Machinery 457,910 

Woollen cloth 34,787 

Paper and manufactures 78,628 

Petroleum 101,495 

Boots and shoes 113,023 

Rice 180,807 

Drugs, chemicals, etc 501,561 

Silk cloth 24,237 

Dynamite 70,673 

PRINCIPAL EXPORTS 

Coffee $1,143,311.00 

Gold 925,628.00 

Bananas 479,927.00 

Hides and skins 460,738.00 

Rubber 258,706.00 

Mahogany 1,199,125.00 

Sugar 231,796.00 

Cotton 18,959.00 

Dyewoods and dyes 6,544.00 

Silver 240,992.00 

Cocoanuts 29,016.00 

Cacao 43,861.00 



.m. 9l°GrcenwU 




THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 177 

'Turtles $7,254.00 

•Lard 11,702.00 

'Poultry 5,410.60 

Corn 36,076.00 

! Cheese 2,438.00 

Leather and saddlery 1,119.00 

jBeans 6,794.00 

Indigo 7,794.00 

| Copper 9,698.00 

i Re-exports 21,007.00 

I Animals 2,293.00 

Transportation 
railways 
The National Railroad of Nicaragua is the only line 
operating in the republic, and with its several branches 
totals 171 miles in length. The road starts at Corinto 
on the Pacific and extends northwesterly for 12 miles to 
Chinandega and thence southeasterly to Leon, Managua, 
Masaya, Granada and Diriamba. About 20 miles of the 
southeastern section penetrates a rich coffee-growing dis- 
trict of mountainous character, but with this exception 
the country traversed is fairly low and unbroken and is 
mainly devoted to stock raising and agriculture. In ad- 
dition to this line there are some 29 miles of private 
roads on the Atlantic Coast and some 3 or 4 miles of 
private tramways on the west side of Lake Nicaragua. 
There are numerous rivers in Nicaragua which are navi- 
gable, the most important being the San Juan, with a 
total length of 140 miles and which connects the Atlan- 
tic Ocean with Lake Nicaragua. A regular steamer 
service is maintained on the San Juan between San Juan 
j del Norte at its mouth and the city of Granada, Lake 



178 FACTS AND FIGUEES 

Nicaragua. The San Juan is navigable for 120 miles. 
The longest river is the Coco or Segovia, known also as 
the Somoro, Cabrugal, Cadrullal, Yoro, Yare, Portillo, 
Liso, Tabacac, Encuentro, Pantasma, Gracias, Cape, 
Hervias, Wanks and Yankes River, according to the va- 
rious sections through which it flows. It is 300 miles in 
length and is navigable for 240 miles for light draught 
vessels and for 130 miles for those of deep draught. 
The Rama River is navigable as far as Rama 40 miles 
inland and Lake Nicaragua is navigable for large ves- 
sels. Lake Managua, but a short distance from Lake 
Nicaragua, is connected with it by the Tipitapa River. 
This lake is 38 miles long by 10 to 16 in width and is ! 
navigable, 

OCEANIC TRANSPORTATION 

From New York. 

No direct connections. Southern Pacific Co. (Mor- 
gan Line) accepts freight via New Orleans. 
From New Orleans. 

United Fruit Co. Every other Thursday for Blue- 
fields. 

Bluefields Fruit & Steamship Co. Every Saturday 
for Bluefields and semi-monthly for Cape Gracias a Dios. 
From Panama. 

Panama R. R. S. S. Co. accepts freight via Colon and 
Panama. 

Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. as above. 
From San Francisco. 

Pacific Mail S. S. Co. Twice monthly for Pacific ports. 

Time of passage from New York to Bluefields via New 
Orleans, 12 days. 



PANAMA 

Population, 1918. 375,000. 

"Capital. Panama, with a population of 37,505. 

Language. Spanish and English. 

\jCurrency. Gold, Balboa = $1.00 U. S. currency ; silver, 
peso = $0.50 U. S. currency. 

\Weights and Measures. Metric system, standard. Amer- 
ican weights and measures also used. 

Postage. Same as for interstate postage except for 
printed matter, samples, etc., which come under Postal 
Union rates. No parcels post. 

I Area. 32,380 sq. miles. 

I Comparative Area. About four times the size of Bel- 
gium or twice the size of Vermont and New Hamp- 
shire combined. 

Total Commerce, 1917. $14,847,346. 

Imports and Exports, 1917 
commerce by countries 

Country Imports Exports 

United States $7,063,310 $5,527,913 

Great Britain 888,365 7,712 

Germany 

j France 133,031 

China 400,764 

Spain 81,971 359 

Japan 170,478 

Italy 400 

Denmark 129,445 

179 



180 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Country Imports Exports 

Austria-Hungary 

Jamaica $82,201 

Sweden 36,889 

Other countries 29,657 



? 



Total $9,223,170 $5,621,176 

PRINCIPAL ARTICLES IMPORTED FROM UNITED STATES, 1917 

Wheat $ 398,000 

Textile 374,000 

Shoes 393,000 

Tobacco 52,000 

Clothing 180,000 

Chemicals and drugs 215,000 

Gasoline 89,000 

Paper and manufactures 123,000 

Oils 91,000 

Automobiles 63,000 

Wire 60,000 

PRINCIPAL ARTICLES EXPORTED TO UNITED STATES, 1917 

Cocoanuts $ 707,637 

Hides 332,512 , 

Bananas 2,467,442 

Transportation 
railways 
In addition to the Transisthmian Railway from Colon 
to Panama which is 48 miles in length, there is a branch 
line to Balboa 3 miles long and in the vicinity of Bocas 
del Toro there are 151 miles of track mainly used for 
the banana industry. The total mileage of railways in 
the republic is about 202. 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 181 

i 

OCEANIC TRANSPORTATION 

From New York. 

United Fruit Co. Panama R. R. Co. 
From New Orleans. 

United Fruit Co. 

Time of passage from New York, 6 days. From New 
Orleans, 5 days. 



PARAGUAY 

Population, 1918. 800,000. 

Capital. Asuncion, with a population of 84,000. 

Language. Spanish, but the Guarani Indian is widely 
spoken among the lower classes while French is spoke 
by the majority of merchants and educated natives. 

Currency. Inconvertible paper, the basis for which is 
the Argentine gold peso valued at $0,965 U. S. The 
number of Paraguayan paper pesos required to equal 
a gold peso varies from 8 to 14. 

Weights and Measures. Metric system obligatory. 

Postage. Postal Union rates. No parcels post. 

Area. 196,000 sq. miles. 

Comparative Area. About four times the size of Ii 
diana or nearly the size of Spain. 

Total Commerce, 1916. $8,353,171. 

Imports and Exports, 1916 

commerce by various countries 

Country Imports Export 

Great Britain $1,799,007 $ 80,0: 

Germany 32,135 

Argentine 1,601,102 3,575,121 

France 72,983 129,919 

Spain 180,623 372,598 

United States 582,136 234,317 

Italy 264,158 146^193 

Belgium 2,420 

Austria-Hungary . . . . « JL . ... M 

182 






THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 183 

Country Imports Exports 

Brazil $ 35,906 $ 15,716 

Uruguay 52,280 229,284 

Other countries 24,814 1,187 



Total $4,679,033 $4,861,677 

PRINCIPAL IMPORTS, 1916 

Textiles $1,927,398 

Foodstuffs 1,068,851 

Hardware 773,814 

Wines, spirits, etc 146,537 

Drugs and chemicals 165,458 

Ready-made clothing 158,366 

Hats 31,944 

Firearms and ammunition 11,663 

Glass and chinaware 21,903 

Dry goods 202,327 

Miscellaneous 225 



Total $4,179,033 

PRINCIPAL EXPORTS, 1915 

Article Quantity 

Dried beef lbs. 2,363,805 

Beef extract lbs. 10,500 

Quebracho extract metric tons 20,138 

Hides number 286,277 

Horns cwt. 5,002 

Oranges number doz. 216,996,750 

Pineapples doz. 6,180 

Timber, logs, rough metric tons 806,167 

Peanuts lbs. 224,096 



184 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Article Qumtity 

Bananas bunches 62,904 

Quebracho wood metric tons 2,555 

Tobacco lbs. 15,749,344 

Yerba lbs. 10,360,269 

Tallow lbs. 657,401 

Transportation 
railways 

The only railway in operation in Paraguay is the Para- 
guay Central, 232 miles in length. Paraguay is practi- 
cally dependent upon its numerous waterways for trans- 
portation. The republic lies between the Paraguay and 
Parana Rivers which join at or near Curupaiti at the ex- 
treme southern end of the republic and together with the 
Uruguay River form the great Rio de la Plata, one of the 
largest rivers in the world. 

The Parana River has a total length of 2,043 miles 
from its source in the Goyaz Mountains in Brazil to its 
junction with the Uruguay and is navigable for vessels 
of 12-foot draft as far as Corrientes, a distance of 676 
miles. Beyond this it is navigable for small vessels a 
distance of 600 miles to the Guayra Falls. 

The Paraguay River is navigable for vessels of 12-foot 
draft as far as Asuncion and Villa Concepcion and be- 
yond that for smaller vessels for a total distance of 1,800 
miles. 

OCEANIC TRANSPORTATION 

No oceanic connection. The regular route is from 
Buenos Aires or Montevideo, up the La Plata, Parana, 
and Paraguay Rivers to Asuncion. There is also an all- 
rail route from Buenos Aires with through trains which 
make the trip in 56 hours. 



PERU 

Population. 4,500,000 of which about 50 per cent, are 
Indians and only about 15 per cent, white. 

Capital. Lima, with population of 38,403. 

Language. Spanish. Quechua Indian in use in many- 
districts. 

Currency. Libra or Peruvian pound = pound sterling 
= $4.8665 U. S. Libra = 10 soles, sol == 100 centavos. 

Weights and Measures. Metric standard. In retail 
trade the Spanish measures are used as follows: 
" Vara' '=32.91 inches, "Arroba"= 25.36 pounds, 
" Libra "= 1.014 pounds. 

Postage. Postal Union rates. Parcels post. 

Area. 679,600 sq. miles. 

Comparative Area. Would cover all Atlantic States 
from Maine to Georgia. Equal to area of California, 
Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and 
Idaho combined. About the size of France, Germany, 
Spain, Portugal and Ireland combined. 

Total Commerce, 1916. $122,753,634. 

Exports and Imports 
proportion op trade of various countries, 1916 

Country Imports Exports 

Great Britain $ 7,281,768 $14,413,803 

United States 24,871,030 50,632,694 

Germany 60,614 

Belgium 59,475 

France 955,123 481,050 

185 



186 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Country Imports Exports 

Italy $ 1,154,565 $ 50,363 

Portugal 53,028 

Holland 113,591 

Austria 

Chile 1,454,955 8,608,259 

Australia 1,145,657 724,129 

China (Hong Kong) .... 1,469,265 

Bolivia 1,476,749 

Spain 827,883 39,512 

Ecuador 177,145 141,767 

Cuba 96,581 

Africa 1,286 28,636 

Japan 416,075 64,404 

Colombia 28,192 14,315 

Panama 43,183 

Brazil 77,528 630,596 

Uruguay 26,488 > 

Costa Eica 6,794 97 

Argentine .362,350 

Salvador 13,478 

Other countries .... 388,327 639,155 



Total fftt $42,256,551 $80,497,083 

Principal Exports for Year 1916 

Their Value in U. S. Currency 

Cotton $8,092,859 

Gums 3,916,791 

Hides 964,436 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 187 

Minerals : 

Gold $ 3,631 

SUvei 114,270 

Copper 26,974,636 

Lead . 332,840 

Petroleum and products 1,773,116 

Sugar, granulated 17,028,555 

Wool 2,567,896 



Other Exports 

Aigrettes ; $ 10,536 

Beans, lima 107,598 

Alfalfa seed 20,157 

Ivory, nuts 126,252 

Peas 20,341 

Cattle 203,566 

Antimony 88,523 

Salt 18,824 

Cocaina 79,599 

Coca leaves 125,502 

Cocoa bean 10,594 

Coffee 34,260 

Copper, ores 652,773 

Fruits 70,491 

Mineral oil 36,647 

Hats (straw) 253,461 

Honey 7,144 

Oil, olive 6,754 

Onions 16,823 

Peppers 64,666 

Rice 532,444 

Rubber 3,391,459 



188 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Tallow 13,140 

Boots 9,875 

Wool, alpaca 2710,485 

Wool, sheep 2,251,800 

Tubers and edible roots 4,603 

Tungsten 1,072,880 

Vanadium 1,123,192 

PRINCIPAL IMPORTS AND VALUES 

(1916) 

Alum $ 29,710 

Agricultural machinery 401,812 

Ammunition 310,819 

Alcoholic drinks 192,908 

Barley 67,164 

Beds and furniture 60,403 

Boats 23,072 

Books 151,343 

Bricks 46,976 

Bullion and currency 4,617,651 

Butter 69,270 

Buttons 37,127 

Cane, cukes 39,088 

Cast-iron pipe 354,188 

Carbonate and caustic soda 11,693 

Cheese 34,649 

Cloth 4,267,463 

Clothing 17,401 

Coal 1,803,904 

Collars 51,940 

Colouring materials 64,685 

Corks 63,771 

Condensed milk 140,306 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 189 

Bags $1,620,287 

Crockery 155,484 

Drugs and medicines 87,514 

Dynamite and exploisves 755,811 

Electrical apparatus 228,351 

Enamelled-iron ware 87,986 

Fireworks 30,260 

Flour 248,700 

Foundry machinery 894,613 

Glass bottles 63,771 

Glassware 71,703 

Underwear 234,809 

Grain 256,319 

Hats 197,798 

Handkerchiefs 21,270 

Hides and skins 27,270 

Iron beams and plates 60,129 

Iron telegraph-posts 6,688 

Jewellery 48,743 

Laces 12,751 

Lard 71,592 

Lime .... 104,912 

Locomotives and automobiles 112,022 

Macaroni 20,250 

Manure and saltpetre 155,927 

Machinery, various 894,613 

Olive and edible oils 136,067 

Oil, industrial 1,293,238 

Paints and varnishes 230,961 

Paper 724,627 

Parafine and stearine 389,787 

Perfumery 363,158 

Pickles 44,426 



190 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Portland cement $ 969,473 

Pumps for mines and irrigation 75,917 

Quinine 90,746 

Refined sugar 27,739 

Ribbons 30,420 

Rice 572,921 

Rubber goods 92,317 

Sofas and chairs 77,329 

Sardines 43,190 

Scales 22,935 

Shoes 450,000 

Shoe polishes 67,343 

Sleepers 14,259 

Soaps 182,562 

Spirituous liquors 62,171 

Steel plates and beams 126,792 

Sweets 127,560 

Tea 511,119 

Thread 465,529 

Tin 269,770 

Tobacco 152,964 

Tools 327,379 

Toys 56,685 

Wines 219,941 

Wire 130,709 

Wire nails 94,201 

Wood and lumber 1,388,408 

Woollen yarn 14,911 

Transportation 
railways 
There are 1,718 miles of railways in operation in Peru, 
of which 1,300 miles are of standard gauge, the balance 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 191 

being narrow gauge. The Peruvian roads are to large 
extent under government ownership and about 1,120 
miles or 65 per cent, are operated by the Peruvian Com- 
pany, Limited. This company also owns and operates a 
line of steamers on Lake Titicaea and by the purchase of 
the Gauqui-LaPaz R. R. in Bolivia it established a 
through route between Mollendo on the Pacific Coast 
and the capital of Bolivia, the time required to make the 
trip between these two points being reduced to 48 hours. 
Aside from its railway system Peru has numerous in- 
terior waterways with an aggregate of 3,000 to 4,000 
miles navigable for vessels of from 8 to 20 feet draught. 
The Port of Iquitos on the upper Amazon is the prin- 
cipal inland port and can be reached in 26 to 28 days 
by steamer from New York. The majority of Peru's 
navigable rivers are on the eastern side of the Andes ; the 
upper Amazon, or as it is known in Peru, the Maranon, 
forms an extensive river system, the Amazon being navi- 
gable its entire length in Brazil and Peru. Several 
steamship companies maintain a regular service on the 
Amazon and its branches as far as the port of Mayro, 
only 325 miles from Lima, 



OCEANIC TRANSPORTATION 

From New York, 

Merchants' Line. To all West Coast ports monthly. 

West Coast Line. To all West Coast ports monthly. 

Pacific Steam Navigation Co. To all West Coast ports 
monthly. 
From Panama. 

Compania Sud Americana de Vapores (Chilean). 
JVeekly via Guayaquil, etc. 



192 FACTS AND FIGURES 

From San Francisco. 

Steamers sail about every ten days for all Pacific ports. 

Time of passage from New York to Arica via Panama, 
20 days ; to Callao via Panama, 15 days ; to Mollendo via 
Panama, 20 days; to Payta via Panama, 15 days. 



SALVADOR 

\Population. 1,700,000. 

[Capital. San Salvador, with a population of 60,000. 

[Language. Spanish. 

\Currency. Silver peso = $0.44 U. S. currency. Peso 
= 100 centavos. 

[Weights and Measures. Metric; standard. Old Span- 
ish measures in use are " Vara' '=33 inches, "Ar- 
roba"= 25.36 pounds. 

I Postage. Postal Union rates. Parcels post. 

{Area. 7,225 sq. miles. 

I Comparative Area. About the size of New Jersey. 

i Total Commerce, 1914. $15,755,119. 

Imports and Exports 
(1914) 

COMMERCE BY VARIOUS COUNTRIES [. 

Country Imports Exports 

United States $2,027,732 $2,662,168 

Great Britain 1,283,636 595,528 

Germany 484,796 2,614,350 

France 298,285 1,559,639 

Italy 234,263 1,087,511 

Mexico 29,787 280 

Beligum 138,384 7,015 

Spain 106,580 115,369 

China 48,194 

Netherlands 92,680 332,217 

Japan 97,413 

193 



194 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Country Imports Exports 

Ecuador $ 1,051 $ 21,620 

Austria-Hungary 809,015 

Other countries 23,094 

Total $4,958,624 $10,796,495 

Total commerce $15,755,119 

PRINCIPAL ARTICLES OP IMPORT TO UNITED STATES, 1914 

Cotton cloth and manufactures $ 460,798 

Hardware 139,043 

Drugs and medicines 89,817 

Flour 325,252 

Hats and Caps 1,352 ! 

Cotton thread 1,693 

Machinery 161,313 

Wines, etc 26,470 

Leather 178,025 

Woollen goods 970 

Provisions 52,437 

Silk fabrics, etc 2,281 

Petroleum 29,156 

Miscellaneous 539,045 

PRINCIPAL ARTICLES EXPORTED TO ALL COUNTRIES, 1914 

Coffee $9,017,660 

Gold and silver 9,643 

Metals , 1,365,800 

Sugar 83,651 

Indigo 98,861 

Balsam 82,720 

Hides of cattle 48,660 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 195 

Rubber $ 5,594 

Tobacco 20,543 

Rice 10,983 

Transportation 
railways 
There is a railway connecting the most important port, 
Acajutla, with San Salvador, the capital, 65 miles dis- 
tant, with a branch line 25 miles in length to Santa Ana. 
San Salvador is also connected with Santa Tecla by a line 
9 miles long. Work is being pushed on the line of the 
International Railways of Central America which is be- 
ing constructed from La Union, Salvador, to Guatemala 
where it will join the system and ultimately afford 
through transportation from Mexico and the Atlantic 
Coast. The track has been laid as far as Usulutan. The 
railway between San Salvador and La Libertad will soon 
be opened to traffic, thus opening up a very important 
section of the republic. 

OCEANIC TRANSPORTATION 

Salvador is only reached from the Atlantic coast of 
Central America by crossing Guatemala by rail from 
Puerto Barrios to San Jose and thence by boat to Aca- 
jutla or other Pacific ports. From Honduras boats ply 
between Amapala and La Union. The western ports 
may also be reached by way of Panama. From Guate- 
mala there are also two wagon roads, one from Santa 
Maria and the other from Zacapa, both leading to Santa 
Ana, the largest frontier town in Salvador. 



UKUGUAY 

Population. 1917. 1,378,000. 

Capital. Montevideo, with a population of 350,000. 

Language. Spanish. 

Currency. Peso of 100 centissimos = $1,034 U. S. There 
is no coinage of gold and foreign coins circulate at 
their value. In converting American money to Uru- 
guayan it is customary to figure the value of the dollar 
at 98 centissimos. 

Weights and Measures. Metric system obligatory. 

Postage. Postal Union rates. Parcels post. Parcels 
cannot be registered. 

Area. 72,210 sq. miles. 

Comparative Area. Larger than New York and West 
Virginia combined. Larger than North Dakota. Twice 
the size of Portugal. The smallest of South American 
republics. 

Total Commerce, 1916. 102,143,640 pesos. 

Ocean Shipping 
(1913) 
No. of vessels Tonnage 

Sailing ships 7,058 

Steamships 9,298 Total 15,143,592 

(Commerce by countries not available) 

Principal Exports and Values, 1916 

Agricultural products $ 1,502,109 

Animal products 73,367,695 

196 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 197 

Mineral products $ 492,552 

Animals 2,371,704 

Bones and bone-ash 147,869 

Bristles 247,930 

Residues 162,909 

Flour 551,457 

Grains and seeds 913,820 

Fruits and Vegetables 22,676 

Forage 13,198 

Hides, dry 18,496,445 

Metals 2,099 

Stones 161,659 

Earths 328,794 

Hunting products 72,370 

Fishing products 25,828 

Meats and extracts 27,471,522 

Salt 2,925 

Miscellaneous 628,914 

Fats 1,057,041 

Wool 23,401,384 

Total value ...... $76,382,043 

Principal Imports and Values, 1915 

Alcohol $ 44,394 

Beans 43,580 

Cement 20,712 

Charcoal 76,213 

Coal 1,321,431 

Coffee 314,062 

Corn 232,916 

Drugs 915,994 



198 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Dry goods .$ 983,862 

Electrical apparatus 70,153 

Foodstuffs 1,642,086 

Fruits and vegetables 250,377 

Hardware 1,281,971 

Lumber 437,427 

Cattle 856,771 

Machinery 129,547 

Medicines 124,207 

Salt 35,551 

Shoes 171,858 

Sugar 1,543,131 

Cotton cloth 1,400,841 

Wheat 26,979 

[Terba mate 815,937 

Transportation 

Uruguay is only accessible from the sea by the Rio de 
la Plata (River Plate) and the Uruguay River. Its prin- 
cipal port and great commercial centre is Montevideo, 
the capital, at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata. Other 
ports on the Atlantic are Maldonado and La Paloma. 
There is a regular night service maintained by modern 
and elegant steamers between Buenos Aires and Monte- 
video across the River Plate and daylight runs are fre- ! 
quently made. There is also regular connection between 
Colonia and Buenos Aires in connection with the railway 
to Montevideo. 

With Brazil there is railway connection over three 
lines, one running along the Uruguay River and connect- 
ing with the railway which crosses the State of Rioi 
Grande do Sul at Uruguayana. The others touch the 
Brazilian frontier and will be eventually carried through 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 199 

to important towns. Connection is also maintained by 
steamer with Brazilian interior ports on the River Plate, 
Parana and Uruguay Rivers and by coasting steamers 
i from Montevideo to Rio Grande do Sul and Rio de Jan* 
eiro. 

i 

STEAMSHIP LINES 

■ From New York. 

Lamport and Holt Line. Twice monthly to Monte- 
video via Brazil. 
Brazil Line, Semi-monthly to Montevideo via Brazil. 

RAILWAYS 

There are 1,540 miles of railway in operation in Uru- 
quay, all but 36 miles of which are of standard gauge. 
Of these, 780 miles are under state guaranty. In addi- 
tion there are 341 miles prospected and under construc- 
tion. The excellent and extensive river system of the re- 
public provides the country with over 700 miles of navi- 
gable rivers so that lack of railways is not felt. The 
Uruguay River is navigable for vessels of 14-foot draught 
as far as Paysandu and further for vessels of 9-foot 
draught. The Rio Negro is navigable for ocean steam- 
ships as far as Mercedes, while many other streams are 
navigable for shorter distances. 



VENEZUELA 

Population. 2,830,771. 

Capital. Caracas, with a population of 73,000. 

Language. Spanish. 

Currency. Bolivar of 100 centimos = $0,193 U. S. cur- 
rency. There are three monetary standards in use 
in Venezuela as follows : Bolivar, based on a value of 
19.3 cents U. S., and used by the government and as a 
standard. Peso Fuerte or " dollar/' commonly called 
"fuertes." Merely a unit of account, the fuerte being 
equal to 5 bolivars or 10 reales. Peso Macquina, com- 
monly called "peso," a unit of account equal to 4 boli- 
vars or 80 centavos and divided into 8 reales. 

Weights and Measures. Metric, legal. Spanish measures 
in use are <'Vara"= 33.38 inches, "Arroba"= 25.402 
pounds. 

Pc age. Postal Union rates. Parcels post. 

A 393,976 sq. miles. 

C ' ' Area. About twice the size of Texas with 

*.±don of Kentucky and Tennessee. Larger than 
, Sweden, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Por- 
,1 and Switzerland combined. Larger than Ger- 
many, Great Britain, Portugal, Denmark and Holland 
combined. Nearly as large as France and Spain to- 
gether. Larger than the whole of Austria-Hungary. 

Total Commerce, 1916. $43,341,000. 

200 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 201 

Imports and Exports 
1916, in Bolivars = .193 

COMMERCE BY COUNTRIES 

Country Imports Exports 

United States 67,143,666 61,117,983 

Great Britain 23,116,999 2,786,543 

Germany 

France 5,145,100 22,418,088 

Holland 1,299,122 3,296,851 

Spain 5,996,237 10,429,477 

Italy 2,174,800 2,419,225 

Trinidad 873,127 4,074,352 

PRINCIPAL IMPORTS, 1916 

Cotton cloths $4,171,641 

Flour 1,201,163 

Medicines and drugs 738,000 

Rice 423,081 

Butter 182,111 

Wines 268,868 

Machinery -. 658,167 

Sewing, knitting and other threads 576,696 

Kerosene 151 821 

Iron manufactures , M „ mM „ f „, If 38 

PRINCIPAL EXPORTS 

Values in Bolivars = $0,193 U. S. Cur^„ 

Coffee 54,® - 8 

Cacao 22,043^0 

Balata 2,936r,t j! 

Cattle hides 8,706,454 

Gold 9,278,001 



202 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Skins 3,202,836 

Rubber 728,736 

Aigrettes 1,422,399 

Asphalt 1,386,184 

Copper ore 1,744,615 

Beef cattle 1,516,161 

Divi-divi 684,165 

Raw sugar 3,461,860 

Tonka beans 72,569 

Fertilizer 162,812 

Leather 903,943 

Sea salt, pearl sheel 16,311 

Tobacco 451,359 

Pearl 861,253 

Wood 210,174 

Meat, frozen 1,670,080 

Feathers 529,644 

Transportation 
railroads 

The total length of railways in actual operation in 
Venezuela is about 535 miles, consisting of 12 differ- 
ent lines with an invested capital of over $40,000,000. 

There are several points along the coast from which 
railways extend into the interior, but only in one locality 
have these lines been connected. In the extreme west 
there are three lines approaching Lake Maracaibo, but 
they are independent and penetrate quite different areas 
of the country. 

Along the coast there are several short lines, but the 
only place where extensive development has taken place 
is near the capital, Caracas, and the best settled portion 
of the country. From the two principal ports on the 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 203 

Caribbean Sea, La Guaria and Puerto Cabello, railways 
pass to the interior, one to Caracas and the other to 
Valencia, and between these two towns another railway- 
has been built. 

The waterways of Venezuela are very important, there 
being 70 navigable rivers with a total navigable length of 
6,000 miles in the republic. The largest of these, the 
Orinoco, furnishes 4,000 miles of navigable waters. A 
regular steamship service is maintained on the Orinoco. 
Apure and Portuguesa, between Ciudad Bolivar and the 
interior. Ocean going ships enter Lake Maracaibo which 
covers an area of 8,000 square miles and is navigable for 
its entirety. Lake Valencia is also navigable for small 
steamers. 



OCEANIC TRANSPORTATION 

From New York. 

Red ' ' D ' ' Line. Weekly to La Guaira, Puerto Cabello, 
Maracaibo, etc., via Porto Rico. 

Trinidad Line. Monthly to Ciudad Bolivar via Trini- 
dad. 

Royal Dutch W. I. Mail S. S. Co. To Puerto Cabello, 
La Guaira, etc. Hamburg-American Line. 
From New Orleans. 

Seeberg S. S. Co. To Maracaibo, Puerto Cabello, La 
Guaira, etc. 
From Europe. 

Various lines both direct and via West Indian ports. 

Time of passage from New York to La Guaira, 8 to 10 
days ; Ciudad Bolivar, 11 days ; Puerto Cabello, 12 days ; 
Maracaibo, 14 days. 



CHAPTEE IX 

COMMERCE AND TRADE 
The following tables and statistics concerning the 
various countries of Latin America will serve as 
a guide as to the amount of business carried on, or 
rather that has been carried on, by the various 
republics. 

In many cases it has been practically impossible 
to obtain very accurate details and in other in- 
stances the latest available statistics are several 
years old. The figures furnished for Mexico 
should not be used in judging the commerce of 
that unfortunate country at the present time, al- 
though the civil war has not affected the com- 
merce of Mexico as much as one would expect, but 
the data will serve as a guide in comparing 
Mexico's past commerce with that of the other 
Latin-American countries. 

The tables have been prepared with the great- 
est care from data furnished by the various con- 
suls general or other officials and, while not com- 
plete, are accurate as far as they go. The tables 

204 



COMMERCE AND TRADE 205 

showing the proportion of trade of various coun- 
tries are only intended to cover those nations con- 
trolling the bulk of trade, in order to show the 
relative proportion of trade falling to the share 
of the United States as compared with the Eu- 
ropean powers. In every case the figures given 
are in round numbers and unless otherwise speci- 
fied are given in United States currency. 

The population, national debts, per capita debt 
and per capita commerce of the various countries 
are important items when considering trade con- 
ditions and while necessarily incomplete these 
tables will, it is believed, be found both valuable 
and interesting. The figures given are in some 
cases merely approximate, as in many of the re- 
publics no recent census has been taken and in all 
of them an accurate census is very difficult to ob- 
tain. 

Exports and Imports op Latin- America 

Country Year Imports Exports 

Argentine 1917 $367,019,437 $530,914,097 

Bolivia 1916 7,676,162 33,017,691 

Brazil 1917 216,608,000 291,382,000 

Chile 1917 222,520,828 268,678,534 

Colombia 1916 24,083,339 28,680,712 



206 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Country Year Imports Exports 

Costa Rica 1916 $ 6,731,273 $ 11,121,172 

Cuba 1916 248,278,279 356,571,350 

Dominican Rep. . . .1916 10,162,698 21,929,805 

Ecuador 1916 9,346,585 17,600,598 

Guatemala 1916 6,719,466 10,617,295 

Haiti 1916 10,312,000 *13,000,000 

Honduras 1915 5,874,000 3,142,157 

Mexico 1915 *85,000,000 *156,000,000 

Nicaragua 1917 3,159,218 4,567,202 

Panama 1917 9,223,170 5,621,176 

Paraguay 1916 4,679,033 4,861,677 

Peru 1916 42,256,551 80,497,083 

Salvador 1916 5,823,619 11,604,751 

Uruguay 1916 33,802,992 76,382,043 

Venezuela 1916 20,634,000 22,707,000 

Total Commerce of Latin-American Countries 

Argentine 1917 $897,924,034 

Bolivia .1916 40,693,853 

Brazil 1917 507,990,000 

Chile 1917 389,588,610 

Colombia 1916 60,576,806 

Costa Rica 1916 17,725,097 

Cuba 1916 604,849,629 

Dominican Rep 1917 39,846,721 

Ecuador 1916 26,947,183 

Guatemala 1916 17,336,761 

Haiti 1916 23,312,000 

Honduras 1915 9,016,157 

Nicaragua 1916 8,828,336 

Mexico 1915 •241,000,000 

*Estimated. 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 207 

The War and South American Trade 

The following table indicates the changes brought 
about in the trade between the United States, Great 
Britain and Germany and the leading commercial coun- 
tries of South America as a result of the war: 







Imports 










United 






Country 


Year 


States Great Britain 


Germany 


Argentine 


.1913 


62,033,000 


130,887,000 


71,312,000 




1917 


133,251,949 


80,080,122 


284,342 


Brazil 


.1913 


51,238,000 


79,801,000 


56,987,000 




1916 


76,238,664 


39,667,499 


86,186 


Chile 


.1913 


55,039,000 


98,709,000 


81,036,000 




1916 


92,033,567 


54,930,000 


1,240,000 


Cuba 


.1913 


71,754,000 


17,412,000 


9,515,000 




1916 


149,591,000 


16,715,000 


64 


Peru 


.1913 


8,775,000 


7,225,000 


5,280,000 




1916 


24,871,030 

Exports 
United 


7,281,768 


60,614 


Country 


Tear 


States Great Britain 


Germany 


Argentine 


.1913 


22,895,000 


120,368,000 


57,916,000 




1917 


155,626,288 


155,217,373 




Brazil 


.1913 


102,460,000 


41,660,000 


44,348,000 




1916 


124,897,986 


31,062,507 




Chile .... 


.1913 


67,163,000 


152,187,000 


84,309,000 




1916 


92,033,567 


48,146,599 




Cuba 


.1913 


132,581,000 


15,6.63,000 


6,498,000 




1916 


247,197,000 


52,379,000 




Peru 


.1913 


15,165,000 


17,015,000 


3,050,000 




1916 


50,632,694 


14,413,803 





208 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Panama 1917 $ 14,847,346 

Paraguay 1916 8,353,171 

Peru 1916 122,753,634 

Salvador 1912 16,717,044 

Uruguay 1916 105,000,000 

Venezuela 1916 48,341,000 

Population of Latin-America 

Country Year Population 

Argentine 1914 7,885,237 

Bolivia 1918 *2,890,000 

Brazil 1916 - *26,500,000 

Chile 1917 *3,870,000 

Colombia 1912 5,072,604 

Cuba 1916 2,627,536 

Costa Rica 1915 430,701 

Dominican Republic 1917 795,400 

Ecuador 1915 *2,000,000 

Guatemala 1917 *2,100,000 

Haiti 1917 *2,500,000 

Honduras 1918 *650,000 

Mexico 1917 *15,500,000 

Nicaragua 1917 *700,000 

Panama 1918 *375,000 

Paraguay 1918 *800,000 

Peru 1918 *4,500,000 

Salvador 1917 *1,700,000 

Uruguay 1916 •1,378,808 

Venezuela 1916 2,830,771 



Total, about 75,000,000 

•Estimated. 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 209 

Debt op Latin- American Republics 
Country Year Total Debt 

Argentine 1915 537,582,830 pesos 

Bolivia 1916 53,211,355 bolivianos 

Brazil 1916 $600,000,000 

Chile 1912 50,000,000 pesos 

Colombia 1917 $20,000,000 

Cuba 1917 68,908,000 

Costa Rica 1915 45,106,398 colones 

Dominican Rep 1916 $22,000,000 

Ecuador 1916 23,615,000 

Guatemala 1915 15,000,000 

Haiti 1916 120,912,000 francs 

Honduras 1916 $125,000,000 

Mexico 1917 491,806,055 pesos 

Nicaragua 1916 $7,000,000 

Panama 

Paraguay 1912 18,000,000 pesos 

Peru 1916 $50,000,000 

Salvador 1917 27,950,383 pesos 

Uruguay 1916 147,559,589 pesos 

Venezuela 1911 161,430,571 bolivars 



The Pan-American Union and its Work 

No work on Latin America, or on the trade conditions 
of the American republics, would be complete without 
some specific mention of the Pan-American Union and 
its excellent work. The benefit which this association 
has wrought for the Latin- American countries and our 
own exporters and manufacturers is incalculable, but 
not one-tenth of those persons interested in Latin- Amer- 
ican affairs avail themselves of the Union's services. 



210 FACTS AND FIGURES 

Every business man, every professional man and every 
man interested in the Latin- American countries should 
become acquainted with the Pan-American Union. 

The Union is in a way unique, for it is the only office 
of its kind in the world. It is the headquarters in the 
capital of one American republic of twenty-one Amer- 
ican republics and its director is the only international 
officer of America chosen by the vote of all the Amer- 
ican governments. The Union is in no way subordinate 
to a department of the United States but is strictly inde- 
pendent and its director is responsible only to the 
twenty-one representatives of American republics who 
constitute its governing board and guide its policies. It 
is supported by contributions from all the American re- 
publics based on their population. Although the United 
States pays more than the other twenty republics com- 
bined, the minister of the smallest nation represented has 
a vote equal to that of the Secretary of State of the 
United States who is chairman. 

The purpose and scope of the Union is to develop com- 
merce, friendly intercourse and better acquaintance 
among all the American republics and to supply infor- 
mation. In carrying out this excellent purpose the 
Union furnishes pamphlets, reports and data of every 
description and in addition publishes the Monthly Bul- 
letin, an illustrated magazine which contains the latest 
official data from all American republics covering ex- 
ports, and imports, trade conditions, tariff changes, pub- 
lic improvements and enterprises, industrial opportuni- 
ties, new laws affecting commerce, immigration, mining, 
etc., and various other valuable items of information. 



THE REPUBLICS AND THEIR TRADE 211 

Foreign Consuls and Customs Agents of the Latin- 
American Countries in New York City 

Argentina, E. C. Perez, Consul General, 17 Battery 

Place; Rector 6946. 
Bolivia, A. Ballivian, Consul General, 233 Broadway; 

Barclay 9733. 
Brazil, H. C. de M. Pinheiro, Consul General, 17 State 

Street. 
Chile, C. 0. Ruiz, Consul General, 149 Broadway; Cort- 

landt 3567. 
Colombia, Dr. A. R. Acosta, Consul General, 17 Battery 

Place ; Rector 9249. 
Costa Rica, F. M. Montero, Consul General, 2 Rector 

Street; Rector 3218. 
Cuba, L. Diaz, Consul General, 44 Whitehall Street, 

Bowling Green 9665. 
Dominican Republic, M. de J. Camacho, Consul General, 

17 Battery Place, Rector 1315. 
Ecuador, G. R. de Icaza, Consul General, 17 Battery 

Place; Rector 3714. 
Guatemala, Dr. Ramon Bengoechea, Consul General, 12 

Broadway; Broad 321. 
Haiti, C. Moravia, Consul General, 33 Broadway; "White- 
hall 246. 
Honduras, R. C. Diaz, Consul General, 31 Broadway; 

Whitehall 233. 

Mexico, , Consul General, 154 Nassau Street. 

Nicaragua, F. Solarzano, Consul General, 80 Wall 

Street; Hanover 6470. 
Panama, S. L. Perigault, Consul General, 11 Broadway ; 

Bowling Green 8377. 



212 



FACTS AND FIGURES 



Paraguay, W. White, Consul General, 233 Broadway; 

Barclay 6030. 
Pern, E. Higginson, Consul General, 42 Broadway; 

Broad 2115. 
Salvador, M. Peralta, in charge, 42 Broadway; Broad 

4669. 
Uruguay, J. Richling, Consul General, 17 Battery Place ; 

Rector 2487. 
Venezuela, P. R. Rincones, Consul General, 80 Wall 

Street; Bowling Green 9570. 



3^77 



